Paul Robeson
Artist
Roy DeCarava
(American, 1919-2009)
Publisher
Renaissance
CultureAmerican
Date1950, printed 1991
MediumPhotogravure
DimensionsOverall, Image: 11 x 8 1/4 in. (27.9 x 21 cm)
Overall, Support: 22 x 17 3/4 in. (55.9 x 45.1 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Overall, Support: 22 x 17 3/4 in. (55.9 x 45.1 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
InscribedEach signed: Roy DeCarava; dated and numbered in pencil in the margin
Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank
Object number2002.15.1
On View
Not on viewLabel TextRoy DeCarava American (b. 1919) Paul Robeson, New York, 1950 Photogravure, 1991 Museum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 2002.15.1 DeCarava is known for his work recording African-American life in his native New York City, and especially for his photographs of the emerging Jazz musicians in the 1950s and 1960s. He has remarked, "jazz and photography are immediate things; they both have to do with now…The jazzman and the photographer have to react at the moment." Not surprisingly, DeCarava's improvisational photographic style bears a striking relationship with much of his subject matter-Jazz musicians. Paul Robeson (1898-1976), the epitome of the twentieth-century Renaissance man, was the son of an escaped slave and a mother from a distinguished Philadelphia family. Although trained as a lawyer, Robeson is best known as an actor and singer. On Broadway, his celebrated theater roles ranged from plays by Shakespeare to Eugene O'Neill, and his performance of Hammerstein and Kern's "Ol Man River" is a classic. During the 1940s, Robeson's Black Nationalist and anti-colonialist activities caused his unjust persecution by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Cited as a major threat to American democracy his career was stifled and his passport revoked in 1950-the same year that this photograph was made. Edited By: DS Edited Date: 2006 Approved By: DS Approval Date: 01/31/2007ProvenanceRoy DeCarava, 1991; Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, Ny.; Chrysler Museum of Art Purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, 2002. Published ReferencesRoy DeCarava, with intro. by Sherry Turner, _Roy DeCarava: Twelve Photogravures_ (Renaissance Press, 1991), 1-12.
