Virginia
Artist
James Van Der Zee
(American, 1886 - 1983)
CultureAmerican
Date1907
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 3 7/16 × 4 5/16 in. (8.7 × 11 cm)
Overall, Support: 4 1/16 × 5 in. (10.3 × 12.7 cm)
Overall, Support: 4 1/16 × 5 in. (10.3 × 12.7 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number88.64
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a gelatin silver print photograph.Label TextJames Van Der Zee American, 1886–1983 Virginia, 1907 Gelatin silver print Museum purchase 88.64 While Disfarmer captured the small, predominantly White community in which he lived, Van Der Zee is best known for his portraits of Black patrons, many taken in Harlem, New York City, where he lived and worked. Van Der Zee’s Harlem portraits feature elegantly dressed, middle-class subjects, whereas this series from his time in Virginia portrays people of color within a poor, rural community, not unlike Disfarmer’s own agrarian town. In Virginia Van Der Zee photographed town events as well as the students and teachers of Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), an instructional school founded in the 1860s for Native and African Americans.Exhibition History"Facing Ourselves: Mike Disfarmer and the American Portrait," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, December 16, 2022 - May 14, 2023.
