Image
Description
Maker
- Roy DeCarava, 1919-2009, American
Title
Billie at Braddocks (Billie Holiday), New York
Year
1952
Medium
Photogravure on paper
Materials/Techniques
-
Materials
Dimensions
-
29.2 x 20 cm (11 1/2 x 7 7/8 inches) (plate)
Identification
-
Edition
6/50 Type
Credit
-
Mary B. Jackson Fund
Object Number
-
1990.019.8
About
In this sensitive portrait of the openly bisexual jazz singer Billie Holiday (1915–1959), Roy DeCarava explored the textural and atmospheric possibilities of rich, dark grays. His use of photogravure, a technique that produces moody, low-contrast images, lends a soft, almost painterly quality. During the 1950s and 1960s, DeCarava produced a number of images of African American jazz musicians in New York. Interested both in the artistic potential of photography and in candid depictions of black urban life, he created work informed by a deep awareness of African American culture and its complexities.
6/50
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Exhibition History
Exhibition History
Use
The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Billie at Braddocks (Billie Holiday), New York with the accession number of 1990.019.8. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.
Feedback
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