Ten Piece Engagement
James Van Der Zee, American, 1886 - 1983
1926
Gelatin silver print
Overall: 7 15/16 × 9 15/16 in. (20.2 × 25.2 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Claire and Richard P. Morse 1937 Fund and the Charles F. Venrick 1936 Fund
PH.2000.29
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, on reverse, in graphite, upper right: TITLE: TEN PIECE ENGAGEMENT, 1926 / PHOTOGRAPHER: JAMES VANDERZEE / COPYRIGHT C[circled] DONNA MUSSENDEN VANDERZEE / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED / VINTAGE PRINT / REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED WITHOUT / WRITTEN PERMISSION / CERTIFIED: Donna Mussenden VDZ
Label
This studio portrait features a group of musicians, including nine men dressed in black tie and a stylishly dressed woman seated at a piano. On the floor before them lies a pile of instruments, suggesting the actual tools of their trade rather than mere decorative props. The image was taken in Harlem, New York, by one of the neighborhood’s preeminent photographers, James Van Der Zee, during the Harlem Renaissance. The Great Migration saw many African Americans moving to the North in search of lives unconstrained by Jim Crow laws, bringing their talents to the major cities in turn. Bolstered by its growing Black community, Harlem became a place where artistic achievement flourished.
From the 2026 exhibition Inhabiting Historical Time: Slavery and Its Afterlives, curated by Amelia Kahl (Barbara C. & Harvey P. Hood 1918 Senior Curator of Academic Programming) and Alisa Swindell (Associate Curator of Photography)
Course History
AAAS 91.1, ENGL 53.18, The Harlem Renaissance, J. Martin Favor, Winter 2015
African and African American Studies 7.01, Picturing African American History, Michael Chaney, Spring 2024
Theater 10.55, African and African American Studies 32.15, Curating Black Theater, Monica Ndounou, Spring 2024
English 3.01, Literary History III, Melissa Zeiger, Spring 2025
English 3.01, Literary History III, Melissa Zeiger, Spring 2025
Exhibition History
Inhabiting Historical Time: Slavery and Its Afterlives, Jaffe and Hall Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 20, 2025 - July 11, 2026.
Provenance
G. W. Einstein Company, Inc., New York, New York; sold to present collection, 2000.
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