over, in the midst of the Civil Rights era, scholars
were investigating the significant contributions of
Harlem Renaissance artists and writers, and Van-
DerZee’s images were held up as both documents
of the people and social scene of that earlier time,
as well as artistic contributions in their own right.
VanDerZee enjoyed his first solo retrospective in
1970, traveling exhibition, and throughout the
1970s and into the 1980s he enjoyed renewed atten-
tion to his career with a variety of awards, honor-
ary doctorates, exhibitions, and new publications
on his work. Perhaps most important, his role as a
portraitist was reinvigorated as celebrities, artists,
and athletes sought him out for sittings. Boxer
Muhammed Ali, actor Bill Cosby, artist Romare
Bearden, and singer Lou Rawls all had their por-
traits taken by VanDerZee during these final years.
These late portraits feature a reduced, but not
absent, use of the painted backdrops, and bring to
the forefront the dynamic power of his well-known
sitters. The existence of these late portraits con-
firms the range and continuity of VanDerZee’s
talent as an optimistic observer of African-Amer-
ican identity throughout the twentieth century.
After a career in photography that spanned 80
years, VanDerZee died at age 97 in Washington, D.C.
RachelArauzSeealso:History of Photography: Twentieth-Cen-
tury Developments; Portraiture; Representation and
Race
Biography
Born in Lenox, Massachusetts, 29 June 1886. Works with
father at Knickerbocker Trust Dining Rooms, New
York City in 1905. Marries Kate Brown in 1907 and
moves to Virginia. Moves back to Lenox in 1908.
Moves to New York City in 1910 and begins work as
darkroom technician at Charles Gertz Studio in a
department store in Newark, New Jersey. Opens portrait
studio in conjunction with his sister’s Toussaint Conser-
vatory of Art and Music in 1912. Divorces Kate Brown
in 1914. Opens Guarantee Photo Studio in New York in
- Marries Gaynella Greenlee in 1918. Featured in
Harlem on My Mindexhibition at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in 1969, and closes his declining studio.
James VanDerZee Institute founded in New York in
1970, and he receives his first solo exhibition at the
Lenox Public Library in Massachusetts. Documentary
filmUncommon Imagesfeatures VanDerZee as its sub-
ject in 1975. Wife Gaynella dies in 1976 and VanDerZee
receives honorary doctorate from Seton Hall University,
South Orange, New Jersey. Marries Donna Mussenden
in 1978 and receives Living Legacy Award from Presi-
dent Jimmy Carter; also awarded first annual Pierre
Toussaint Award in New York City and is subject of
‘‘Black Heritage Covers’’ postage stamp. Receives New
York City Mayor’s Award of Honor for Arts and Cul-
ture and honorary doctorate from Columbia College,
Chicago. Awarded honorary doctorate by Howard Uni-
versity, Washington, D.C., and dies 15 May 1983 in
Washington, DC.Individual Exhibitions
1970 Lenox Public Library; Lenox, Massachusetts
1979 The Legacy of James VanDerZee: A Portrait of Black
Americans; Alternative Center for the Arts, New York,
New York
1989 Roots in Harlem: Photographs by James VanDerZee
from the Collection of Regina A. Perry; Memphis Mem-
orial Art Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee
1993 VanDerZee: Photographer, 1886–1983; National Por-
trait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
2002 James VanDerZee: Harlem Guaranteed; Michael Ro-
senfeld Gallery, New York, New York
2004 The James VanDerZee Studio; Art Institute of Chi-
cago, Chicago, IllinoisSelected Group Exhibitions
1969 Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black Amer-
ica 1900–1968; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, New York
1983 A Century of Black Photographers: 1840–1960; Mu-
seum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Provi-
dence, Rhode Island
1991 Eclectic Lens: Photographs from The Paul Jones Col-
lection; Beach Institute, Savannah, Georgia
1994 Empowerment: The Art of African American Artists;
Krasdale Gallery, White Plains, New York
1997 Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance;
Hayward Gallery, London, England, and traveled to
Mead Gallery, University of Warwick, England; M.H.
de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, Califor-
nia; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Centurions: 101 Visions; Savannah College of Art and
Design, Savannah, Georgia
1998 Tradition & Conflict: A Visual History of African-
Americans in Art, 19th and Early 20th Centuries; Ledbet-
ter Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TennesseeSelected Works
Self-portrait, 1918
Nude by Fireplace, 1923
Marcus Garvey in Regalia, 1924
Alpha Phi Alpha Basketball Team, 1926
Barefoot Prophet, 1929
Couple in Racoon Coats, 1932
My Corsage, 1933
Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1982Further Reading
Mercer, Kobena.James VanDerZee. New York: Phaidon
Press, Inc., 2003.
VanDerZee, James.James VanDerZee. Dobb’s Ferry, NY:
Morgan & Morgan, 1973.
———.VanDerZee. New York: Pomegranate Books, 1999.
Westerbeck, Colin.The James VanDerZee Studio. Chicago:
The Art Institute of Chicago, 2004.VANDERZEE, JAMES