The Harlem Renaissance

BY: Ramona Duoba

In the 1920s, the New York City neighborhood of Harlem was the epicenter for black artists, writers, scholars and musicians. People like Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Langston Hughes were all part of The Harlem Renaissance. Known then as the “New Negro Movement,” it was a turning point in black cultural history as some of the era’s most significant literary and artistic black figures migrated through the city’s northern neighborhood.

Beyond the Harlem Renaissance, the spring exhibition at NYC’s Keith de Lellis Gallery celebrates this period through the portraiture of photographer Carl Van Vechten. “He was a critic and promoter of some of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance and was a patron of the artists of that movement,” said de Lellis.

Van Vechten came to New York from Chicago in 1906 to pursue a career in writing. He would become an influential critic and novelist. He gained notoriety with his 1926 book Nigger Heaven. The novel and its incendiary title remain controversial today. His personal life was often in question. Married twice, Van Vechten’s second marriage to Fania Marinoff lasted fifty years despite his attraction to men and many gay relationships. In Harlem, he attended the opera and cabarets and received credit for the white interest in Harlem nightlife and culture.

Van Vechten wrote several articles promoting black writers and performers for Vanity Fair and the New York Herald Tribune. Initially, he wrote about his encounters with New York’s black community before turning to photography in the 1930s. He viewed his portraits as a way to elevate both established and emerging artists. “Most of them had already begun making their mark in the world of the African American arts when they posed for him,” said de Lellis, “Van Vechten was not only documenting these important figures but he had a personal connection to many of them both socially and as artists.”

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson dancing across the frame, the quiet and contemplative Bessie Smith are part of the exhibit. “Van Vechten’s portraits of Cab Calloway are some of the best images of the multi-talented American jazz artist and were made early in his career,” said de Lellis, “they capture the character of the inimitable Calloway in all his jazzy cool cat style that was so integral to the Harlem Renaissance movement.” Van Vechten captures the beauty and poise of a young Diahann Carroll, who would later go on to film and Broadway and, of course, her groundbreaking television role as a single African-American mother in the show Julia. The portrait of Billie Holiday captured the iconic singer at the height of her powers as a nightclub performer. Van Vechten’s photographs were on display at the Museum of the City of New York and the Philadelphia Museum Art during his lifetime. His work in portraiture continued for the next 30 years until he died in 1964.

During pandemic restrictions, the Keith de Lellis exhibition Beyond the Harlem Renaissance African American Portraits by Carl Van Vechten is available for viewing on-line.