Baker, Josephine. (1906–1975)
Two Signed Photographs in La Créole
Pair of vintage glossy 3.5 x 5.5 postcard photos of Baker in ‘La Creole,’ each signed in fountain pen, “Josephine Baker, 1936.” Both are individually mounted and matted to overall sizes of 14 x 17. In overall fine condition."Baker's most significant break with the old music-hall genre occurred with her 1934 appearance as the lead in a revival of Offenbach's operetta La Créole. To play this role, she expanded her vocal range and modified her dance styles. Hammond and O'Connor call the production 'Josephine's greatest artistic triumph in Paris in the 1930s.' Baker played Dora, a Creole Jamaican who falls in love with a French sailor and travels to France in pursuit of him. This comic operatic role firmly placed her in the 'Boulevard tradition' of legitimate musical theater and moved her beyond the tableaux, erotic displays, and medleys of the music hall. Two recorded arias and a brief film clip of her acrobatic dance survive from the operetta, documenting her transformation as a comic-opera star." (Bennetta Jules-Rosette, Josephine Baker in Art and Life: The Icon and the Image," p. 179-180) (11823)
Signed Photograph Song