![Smith, Bessie. (1894 - 1937) [Vechten, Carl Van. (1880-1964)] Bessie Smith, 1936](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/Smith_Bessie_Vechten_holdingdressphotograph24096a.jpg?v=1744054065)
![Smith, Bessie. (1894 - 1937) [Vechten, Carl Van. (1880-1964)] Bessie Smith, 1936](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/Smith_Bessie_Vechten_holdingdressphotograph24096b.jpg?v=1744054065)
Smith, Bessie. (1894 - 1937) [Vechten, Carl Van. (1880-1964)] . Bessie Smith, 1936.
Silver gelatin photograph of the great singer, shown broadly smiling in an ecstatic pose, hiking up her dress. Titled in the hand of the photographer "Bessie Smith" in green ink on the verso, and with his copyright stamp and handwritten image number and date of Feb 3, 1936. 9.8 x 7.5 in. (25 x 19 cm.). Very fine.
The most famous female blues singer of the 20th century, Smith was born into poverty in Chattanooga, one of 7 children, and orphaned at 9. She began street-singing to help pay for groceries, etc., while eldest sister Viola raised the family and in 1912 she joined a traveling group which included blues great, Ma Rainey, who had a profound influence on her. Though some of her records sold 100,000 copies, Bessie Smith was never wealthy; her difficult life ended tragically after an auto accident in Mississippi.
Carl Van Vechten was a writer, promoter of African-American artists during the Harlem Renaissance, patron of the arts, and photographer. After he graduated from the University of Chicago, he entered upon his first career as a reporter and by the early 1930s, Van Vechten was a well known author having written numerous articles for newspapers and magazines and published seven novels. It was during this time period that Van Vechten began to develop a second career as a photographer. Van Vechten over the course of his lifetime proved to be as successful a photographer as he was an author.
Smith, Bessie. (1894 - 1937) [Vechten, Carl Van. (1880-1964)] . Bessie Smith, 1936.
Silver gelatin photograph of the great singer, shown broadly smiling in an ecstatic pose, hiking up her dress. Titled in the hand of the photographer "Bessie Smith" in green ink on the verso, and with his copyright stamp and handwritten image number and date of Feb 3, 1936. 9.8 x 7.5 in. (25 x 19 cm.). Very fine.
The most famous female blues singer of the 20th century, Smith was born into poverty in Chattanooga, one of 7 children, and orphaned at 9. She began street-singing to help pay for groceries, etc., while eldest sister Viola raised the family and in 1912 she joined a traveling group which included blues great, Ma Rainey, who had a profound influence on her. Though some of her records sold 100,000 copies, Bessie Smith was never wealthy; her difficult life ended tragically after an auto accident in Mississippi.
Carl Van Vechten was a writer, promoter of African-American artists during the Harlem Renaissance, patron of the arts, and photographer. After he graduated from the University of Chicago, he entered upon his first career as a reporter and by the early 1930s, Van Vechten was a well known author having written numerous articles for newspapers and magazines and published seven novels. It was during this time period that Van Vechten began to develop a second career as a photographer. Van Vechten over the course of his lifetime proved to be as successful a photographer as he was an author.