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Dancers

Artist Roy DeCarava (American, 1919-2009)

CultureAmerican

Date1956, printed 1991

MediumPhotogravure

DimensionsOverall, Image: 10 15/16 × 7 in. (27.8 × 17.8 cm)
Overall, Support: 22 × 18 in. (55.9 × 45.7 cm)

InscribedEach signed, dated and numbered in pencil in the margin

Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank

Object number2002.15.10

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a photogravure of a dance hall. It is long and narrow with shiny hardwood floors; two men dance in the center and many people, seen as shadows, stand on the edge of the dance floor.

Label TextRoy DeCarava American (b. 1919) Dancers, 1956 Photogravure, 1991 Purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 2002.15.10 ~ 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 of the 1950s and 1960s. He has commented that "jazz and photography are immediate things; they both have to do with now…The jazzman and the photographer have to react at the moment." Photography and jazz are both based on the premise of improvisation. The jazz musician assembles his work through a spontaneous flow of notes based upon the moment. In comparison, the photographer assembles his work by capturing a moment from the unending flow of the world around him. Both assemblages can be complex and require a great deal of intuition. Because of this extreme reliance on improvisation, DeCarava's photography and jazz music also bear a striking similarity to abstraction. In 1952 DeCarava became the first photographer since 1927, and the first African-American artist ever, to win a Guggenheim Fellowship. Edward Steichen, who was at that time director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, recommended DeCarava for the Guggenheim. He was also the first to purchase his photographs (for MoMA). In 1955 DeCarava published, with Langston Hughes, his classic book, The Sweet Flypaper of Life. Edited By: GLY Edited Date: 03/27/2003ProvenanceRoy DeCarava, 1991; Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, Ny.; Chrysler Museum of Art Purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, 2002. Exhibition History"The Sound I Saw: The Jazz Photographs of Roy DeCarava," The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, Ny., Jan. 20 - March 20, 1983. *This image circulated, not this object. "Roy DeCarava: A Retrospective," The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Ny., Jan. 25 - May 7, 1996; The Art Institute of Chicago, Il., June 8 - Sept. 15, 1996; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Ca., Nov. 14, 1996 - Jan. 26, 1997; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Ma., Feb. 23 - May 4, 1997; The Saint Louis Art Museum, Mo., June 15 - Aug. 9, 1997; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Tx., Sept. 7 - Nov. 16, 1997; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Ca., Jan. 22 - April 5, 1998; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Ga., June 27 - Sept. 19, 1998; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Oct. 17, 1998 - Jan. 4, 1999. *This image circulated, not this object. Published ReferencesRoy DeCarava, _The Sound I Saw: The Jazz Photographs of Roy DeCarava_, exh. cat., Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, Ny., 1983, 37, plate 22. Roy DeCarava, with essays by Leif Wigh, _Årstider: fotografier av Roy DeCarava_, exh. cat., Fotografiska museet i Moderna museet, Stockholm, Sweden, 1988, n.p. Roy DeCarava, with intro. by Sherry Turner, _Roy DeCarava: Twelve Photogravures_ (Renaissance Press, 1991), 1-12. Peter Galassi, with an essay by Sherry Turner DeCarava, _Roy DeCarava: A Retrospective_, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Ny., 1996, 211.