Carl Van Vechten

Novelist, essayist, and photographer Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) promoted the work of African-American artists and writers. He was most notably associated with the Harlem Renaissance, the artistic, literary, and musical movement of the 1920s. The City Museum is proud to exhibit a selection of Van Vechten’s photographs from its collection in conjunction with the 26th anniversary of New York City History Day and to highlight its theme, “Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History.” As a result of the “Great Migration,” Harlem became the largest African-American community in the United States, providing black artists a place to gather and express themselves on the world’s stage. Among the figures featured in the exhibition are poet Langston Hughes, writer Countée Cullen, and performers Ella Fitzgerald and Bill Robinson.

Carl Van Vechten: Photographing the Harlem Renaissance and Beyond is made possible by the Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation, Susan and Roy Glaser, and Kathleen Benson Haskins. This exhibition is also supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Predoctoral Fellowship Program in Museum Education at the Museum of the City of New York.