Altar Boy

c. 1930

James Van Der Zee

Associated Names
James Van Der Zee

Artist, American, 1886 - 1983

The image shows an individual from the waist up, kneeling with their head slightly bowed. The person has short, textured hair and their facial features are subtle due to the soft focus of the image. They are wearing a white garment with wide sleeves and a darker-colored shawl around the neck. The individual is holding a book close to their chest. The background of the image features a mural with religious imagery. The foreground contains a table with flowers and a lit candle.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Avalon Fund

  • Dimensions

    image: 24.3 × 19.2 cm (9 9/16 × 7 9/16 in.)
    sheet: 25.2 × 20.2 cm (9 15/16 × 7 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2019.127.8

  • Copyright

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

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  James Van Der Zee’s Portrait Photographs: Technical Insights from the National Gallery of Art’s Prints

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

James Van Der Zee, New York; Donna Van Der Zee, New York; (Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York); NGA purchase, 2019.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1993

  • Van Der Zee, Photographer, 1886-1983. Exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, 1993: 146.

Inscriptions

signed by artist, lower left in negative: VANDERZEE / N.Y.C [underlined]; on verso, by unknown hand, upper center in graphite: #5227; bottom center: PF126399-111; bottom right: 1-P-60-0

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