Group Portrait, Church of God, Harlem

1933

James Van Der Zee

Associated Names
James Van Der Zee

Artist, American, 1886 - 1983

This black-and-white photograph shows a group of people standing and sitting in front of the doorway of a building. The group consists of adults and children of different ages. The group is large, and the people in the back appear to stand on stairs in front of the doorway, while the people in the front stand and sit on the gray sidewalk. The adults are mostly in the back of the group while those in the front are children, although two adult men are positioned on either side of the front row. The man on the left holds a book and wears a light gray suit with a light gray tie, while the man on the right wears a black suit with a white shirt and a black bow tie. Everyone else in the group is dressed in light-colored clothing, with the women and girls wearing dresses and the men and boys wearing collared shirts, some with ties. The people are gathered closely together, most looking at the camera with neutral expressions. The people have a variety of skin tones, from light to medium-toned to dark. Most of them seem to have dark hair. Two buildings frame the group on either side; on the left is an unmarked brick building, and on the right is a building with a large window and a sign labeled "Morticians 257 Funeral Directors." along with other signage. Two people can be seen through this window looking out towards us, and more people are looking out from a window at the top of the photograph.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund

  • Dimensions

    image: 17.8 × 24.8 cm (7 × 9 3/4 in.)
    sheet: 18.1 × 25.6 cm (7 1/8 × 10 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2018.110.1

  • Copyright

    © James Van Der Zee Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(John M. Cleary Testamentary Trust, Houston, TX); NGA purchase (through Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, IL), 2018.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

signed by artist, lower right in negative: VANDERZEE / NYC / 1933; on verso, center stamped in black ink inverted: G.G.G. PHOTO STUDIO, / 2065-7th AVE. NEW YORK; by unknown hand, lower left in graphite circled and perpendicular: 10; lower right in graphite perpendicular: 826.001.3.17


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