Basie and Lena, New York

Artist Roy DeCarava (American, 1919 - 2009)

Date1957; printed later

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 13 x 9 5/8 inches (33.02 x 24.45 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.3967

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of a woman embracing a man from behind. She smiles as she looks toward the man. He is also smiling and wearing a jacket with tie.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Interpreting Experience: Bey, DeCarava, and VanDerZee. Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE, December 8, 2001 - March 3, 2002.

Black and White in America: Photography of the Civil Rights Era, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 19 – October 3, 2004, no cat.

Through the Lens: Visions of African American Experience, 1950-1970. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, November 18, 2015 – April 3, 2016, no cat.

Rotation 24. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 9 – November 12, 2017, no cat.

Gallery Label

This portrait of Count Basie and Lena Horne evokes the warm, loving energy shared by two great musicians. As an artistic response to mass media stereotypes of African Americans, Roy DeCarava photographed Black subjects with grace, beauty, and dignity. He often used low, ambient light, and he embraced the lower register of the photographic scale—the rich and velvety beauty of gray and black.

Provenance

Edwynn Houk Gallery, Chicago, IL;
Purchased from Edwynn Houk Gallery by Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1987;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.

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