Anna May Wong

Artist Carl Van Vechten (American, 1880 - 1964)

DateApril 20, 1932

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage and sheet: 13 15/16 × 9 15/16 inches (35.4 × 25.24 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.4455

SignedArtist's Stamp

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of a woman, Anna May Wong, wearing a top hat while sipping champagne.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Passionate Observer: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten (formerly "A Privileged Eye: Photographs of Carl Van Vechten"). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, December 6, 1992- January 10, 1993, Detroit Institute of Arts, May 12 - July 3, 1993, Knoxville Museum of Art, July 24 - September 26, 1993, Carl Van Vechten Gallery at Fisk University, Nashville, TN, October 31, 1993 - January 9, 1994, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC, January 30 - March 13, 1994, San Francisco Performing Arts Center, April 17 - May 29, 1994, Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, IN, August 3 - September 18, 1994, Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame, IN, October 9 - November 27, 1994, Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, VA, March 31 - May 21, 1995, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., June 16 - September 4, 1995, Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, Savannah, GA, December 5, 1995 – January 28, 1996, Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, AL, June 22 - August 17, 1997, no 1.

The Passionate Observer: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten from the Hallmark Photographic Collection. Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, WI, August 29 - October 16, 2005, no cat.

In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, March 8 - June 15, 2008, no cat.

Rotation 8. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, May 15 - October 10, 2010, no cat.

Gallery Label

Turning from his previous work as a critic and novelist, in 1932 Carl Van Vechten started using a new, high-precision camera: the small 35mm Leica. Between 1932 and 1964 he made more than fifteen thousand photographs, largely portraits of the writers, artists, and performers in his social circle including Anna May Wong. In these portraits, Van Vechten combines a sense of simplicity and theatricality, celebrity and intimacy.

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