"Take Harlem's heartbeat, Make a drumbeat, Put it on a record, let it whirl, And while we listen to it play, Dance with you till day."
-Langston Hughes Jukebox Love Song
James Van Der Zee was one of the most prolific and creative studio photographers of the 20th century. His name may be unfamiliar to some, but his images are ingrained within the visual fabric of American culture. Born in Lennox, Massachusetts in 1886, his relationship with photography began at the young age of fourteen. Essentially self-taught, he gained his only technical instructions in his first professional photography position in 1915 at Gertz’s Department store in Newark, New Jersey. Gaining more popularity as a photographer amongst clients than the official photographer, he left Gertz a year later in 1916 and opened his own studio, Guarantee Photo, on 135th street in Harlem. Later he opened another studio with his wife, G.G.G. studio, at 272 Lenox Avenue.
Van Der Zee was one of the most sought-after photographers of the Harlem Renaissance. He was often at the forefront of black celebrations, weddings, funerals and political activities. In 1924 he accepted the role as the official photographer of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association. His work captured the lively culture and rich style which defined Harlem-the reverberating heartbeat of black life. This is arguably best illustrated in his masterful work, Couple Harlem, 1932, depicting a couple adorned in lush raccoon fur coats in front of a Cadillac V-16. It was this now iconic photograph that regenerated Van Der Zee’s career in the 1960s when included in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s controversial exhibition Harlem on My Mind (1969). This rediscovering of Van Der Zee’s work brought him out of retirement, as he had fallen on hard times due to a diminished appreciation of his artistry and designing of ornate studio tableaus.
So much of Van Der Zee’s work is tied to the very essence of what it meant to be African American in the 20th century especially in the interwar years as African Americans created new positive modes through which to imagine themselves. His elaborate use of an array of studio props and backdrops, which he often painted himself, became his signature way of elevating his sitters. Although these types of motifs had fallen out of style by the 1980s, he updates this approach in this stunning portrait Jean-Michel Basquiat # 3, 1982, offered here. The artist sits with a rather melancholy disposition before a partial painted backdrop and various studio elements, which Van Der Zee deliberately subdues contrary to his traditional sharp focus so that our eyes rest entirely on Basquiat. Although the props are diminished, Van Der Zee demonstrates his skill of building a narrative through suggestive details, like Basquiat’s paint speckled pants and the cat he coddles, a reference to intelligence and independence- characteristics of a fledging modern artist. Scholar and professor Deborah Willis made note of Van Der Zee’s talents in composition stating his “artistry comes from his ability to combine his many elements as a painter, studio and journalistic photographer, but above all, his natural curiosity about people.” (The Studio Museum in Harlem).
This photograph of a 21-year-old Jean-Michel Basquiat is a testament to Van Der Zee’s tenacity and sheer dedication to the photographic medium having taken this portrait in 1982, the year before he would pass away at the admirable age of 96. A poetic complex dialogue of rise and fall is at play here between these two creative men, a transience in the person of Basquiat versus longevity in that of Van Der Zee. Although they both would be gone within six years of the taking this photograph, the importance and impact of their works have endured to this day. After this sitting, this artistic exchange was reversed, Van Der Zee became the subject as Basquiat had the honor of painting his portrait.
This warm hued print is in impeccable pristine condition and as is consistent with Van Der Zee’s practice, is signed in the negative, visible in the lower left image. Renowned photographer Dawoud Bey proudly boast holding a print of this image in his private collection. In 2021 The Metropolitan Museum of Art took over stewardship of and established The James Van Der Zee Archive in partnership with The Studio Museum in Harlem. The archive includes 20,000 prints made in his lifetime, 30,000 negatives, and is the third photography archive the museum has acquired, preceded by those of Diane Arbus and Walker Evans.