08 Jazz America Object Labels

Paul Colin (France, 1892–1985) Dancer in Pink on Piano (from Le Tumulte Noir), 1929 Color lithograph National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution French poster artist Paul Colin made a suite of prints celebrating the American music hall dancer, Josephine Baker, then the toast of JazzAge Paris. African Americans often found more artistic success and happiness in Paris than they did in New York. Baker exploded on the Paris entertainment scene in 1925 and was famous for her liberated dance movements and her exotic costumes. Europeans loved Baker’s energy and unconventionality and considered both ultra-modern and American. Colin depicts Baker in a cubist-inspired, Jazz-Age style, wearing one of her costumes of feathers at the waist only.

Paul Colin (France, 1892–1985) Jazz Band (from Le Tumulte Noir), 1929 Color lithograph on paper National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Miguel Covarrubias (Mexico, 1904–1957) Caricature of African American man playing drums, 1926 Pen and wash on paperboard Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Miguel Covarrubias (Mexico, 1904–1957) Lindy Hop, 1936 Lithograph Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division The Lindy Hop is a jazz dance that emerged in the 1920s and became a worldwide craze. It was named after Charles Lindbergh’s historic first transatlantic flight in 1927, although a “lindy” also was slang for a young woman. The Lindy Hop is a social or partners’ dance and evolved from the earlier jazz dance called the Charleston. Many believe that the dance originated at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem and from the athletic feats of that venue’s regular Saturday night dance competitions.

Miguel Covarrubias (Mexico, 1904–1957) Rumba, 1945 Lithograph Tacoma Art Museum, Carolyn Schneider Collection, Gift of Col. and Mrs. A. H. Hooker Stuart Davis (United States, 1892–1964) ITLKSEZ, 1921 Watercolor and collage on paper The William H. Lane Collection The title of this abstracted and animated watercolor is a play on jazz riffs. ITLKSEZ stands as quirky code for “it looks easy,” an oft repeated phrase for the slide and swing of jazz music that can be, nonetheless, quite challenging to perform. Aaron Douglas (United States, 1899–1979) Rise, shine for thy light has come!, about 1930 Gouache on paper Howard University Gallery of Art Chaim Gross (United States, born Austria, 1904–1991) Jazz, 1929 Mahogany Collection of Jake Milgram Wien, on long-term loan to the Portland Museum of Art, Maine William Henry Johnson (United States, 1901–1970) Jitterbugs I, about 1940-41 Gouache and pen and ink on paperboard Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation Jitterbug is slang and a general term for swing dancing that began in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The famous Harlem Savoy Ballroom and Cotton Club performer Cab Calloway helped to popularize the word

as he celebrated jitterbugging in a 1934 song and 1935 movie of that name. Artist William Henry Johnson captures the coordinated, rhythmical movements of the dance craze in his consciously folk-like drawing. He created a series of work in 1930s and 1940s based on couples dancing the jitterbug.

Lois Mailou Jones (United States, 1906–1998) The Ascent of Ethiopia, 1932 Oil on canvas Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, African American Art Acquisition Fund, matching funds from Suzanne and Richard Pieper, with additional support from Arthur and Dorothy Nelle Sanders Lois Mailou Jones devoted her artistic career to the African-American experience. In The Ascent of Ethiopia, black men and women move across and up the picture plane, making a spiritual as well as a cultural journey from an African past to an American urban present. The modern city at the summit is represented as the crucible of the arts— music, drama, painting, and sculpture. The nocturnal palette evokes the blues and jazz, music that was shaped by African-American singers and instrumentalists.

Archibald J. Motley, Jr. (United States, 1891–1981) Blues, 1929 Oil on canvas Collection of Valerie Gerrard Browne A masterpiece of modernism, Blues compresses dancers, musicians, cocktails, and cigarettes into a tight composition to transmit the energy of the music and the crush of a small dance floor. A Chicagoborn African-American, Archibald Motley was living abroad on a Guggenheim Foundation artist fellowship when he painted this picture of a Parisian nightclub frequented by men and women of African descent. These are not Americans but Europeans, dancing to jazz and blues imported from his native land. Archibald J. Motley, Jr. (United States, 1891–1981) Saturday Night, 1935 Oil on canvas

Howard University Gallery of Art Francis Picabia (France, 1879–1953) Negro Song II, 1913 Watercolor and pencil on paper The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of William Benenson A French cubist and abstract artist in the early 1910s, Francis Picabia came to the United Stated for a first time in 1913, landing in New York. He ventured north to Harlem and fell under the spell of the jazz clubs he witnessed there. While in Manhattan, he made abstract watercolors evoking the city as well as the country’s newest popular music— something Picabia called “black song.” The curves and undulations as well as stark shifts in contrast suggest the swaying rhythms of jazz music. Viktor Schreckengost (United States, born 1906) Jazz Bowl, about 1930 Porcelain with incised slip decoration Cowan Pottery Museum, Rocky River Public Library Eleanor Roosevelt, before she was the country’s First Lady, commissioned Cowan Pottery to create a bowl with a New York theme, as her husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt was then governor of the state. Artist Viktor Schreckengost, a jazz enthusiast and saxophone player, selected the world of jazz to symbolize the city of Manhattan at the zenith of the jazz era. The artist creatively combined New York and jazz and associated them with a high-spirited modernity Viktor Schreckengost (United States, born 1906) Blue Revel, 1931 Oil on canvas The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Vik Schreckengost Schreckengost was an industrial designer, ceramic artist, and accomplished jazz saxophonist. His painting Blues Revel emphasizes the rhythmic repetitions of jazz music and dancing during the height of its popularity in the early 1930s. Some viewers may have difficulty with the racial stereotypes that were, unfortunately, quite prevalent when the painting was made. Schreckengost visited the Globe Theater in

Cleveland, and his admiration for the jazz performances and AfricanAmerican talent he witnessed there inspired this work. James VanDerZee (United States, 1886–1983) Dancer, Harlem, 1925 Gelatin silver print Collection of Donna VanDerZee Photographer James VanderZee lived in Harlem, a borough of Manhattan largely inhabited by African Americans. He documented its growth and cultural flowering in the 1920s and 1903s, an historical moment known as the Harlem Renaissance. VanderZee captured the burgeoning creativity and optimistic spirit of his community in his striking portraits, such as the young jazz dancer seen here. James VanDerZee (United States, 1886–1983) Couple, Harlem, 1933 Gelatin silver print Collection of Donna VanDerZee