Portrait of Sisters
Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 17.6 × 12.5 cm (6 15/16 × 4 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Robert B. Menschel Fund
Accession Number
2000.83.2
Art Historical Context
James Van Der Zee's *Portrait of Sisters* (1926) captures the elegance and dignity of two young Black women during the Harlem Renaissance, a vibrant era of African American cultural flourishing in New York City. As a pioneering photographer based in Harlem, Van Der specialized in studio portraits that elevated everyday subjects through meticulous composition and aspirational styling. This gelatin silver print, measuring a intimate 17.6 × 12.5 cm, exemplifies his to transform personal moments into timeless celebrations of family and identity. The medium of gelatin silver print, popular in the ...
About the Artist
James Van Der Zee
James Augustus Van Der Zee (1886–1983) was born on June 29 in Lenox, Massachusetts, into a family where he quickly displayed talents in music, mastering the violin and piano while aspiring to a professional career as a violinist. Self-taught in photography from age fourteen, he acquired his first camera around 1900 and documented his family and small-town New England community, providing one of th...