![A painting of a convivial, crowded scene of diverse couples dancing, musicians playing, and seated people drinking. In the center of the canvas is a dark-skinned man in a brown suit, back facing the viewer. His head is in profile with his left arm raised and he is dancing with a beige-skinned woman whose smiling face is in full view. The woman holds a cigarette behind the man’s back. The angle of her arm points to a nearby dancing couple, a pale-skinned woman and a tan-skinned man. The pale-skinned woman wears a bright red, short dress with white tights and a long necklace of small pearls. She dances with the tan-skinned man dressed in a black jacket and mustard-colored trousers, whose back is to the viewer. In the bottom left corner seated musicians of mixed skin tones, wearing black, play a mandolin, clarinet, trumpet and trombone, their instruments extend outwards between the dancing couples. In the background groups of people dressed in bright colors sit at white, round tables drinking wine and cocktails. The figures in the piece are stylized, with smiling expressions and a sense of animation. The overall scene has a flat perspective, such that the figures fill the frame completely, are overlapped, and some are cut off by the canvas, giving the sense of a crowded, joyful scene. In the bottom right corner, the artist’s signature, the location of the piece, and the date [A.J. Motley Jr. Paris 1929] are inscribed in black paint.]( https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/325265_ec56d76c9a96179d_b.jpg
"Blues")
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Blues
It was created by Archibald J. Motley Jr.. It is dated 1929. Its medium is oil on canvas.
Archibald Motley Jr.’s Blues captures the sights and sounds of a black-and-tan nightclub in the late ’20s, where patrons could be free from the strictures of white society. He painted this work while on a Guggenheim Fellowship in Paris but returned in 1930 to become a significant figure in the Harlem Renaissance and in the lively Chicago arts scene.
It is credited Collection of Mara Motley, MD, and Valerie Gerrard Browne.
- Evening Dress, ca. 1924
- silk, metallic yarn, glass beads, compound weave.
- Lent by Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Museum Collection,....
- 51.2016.2
- Drawing, Jazz Dancers
- gouache, crayon on paper.
- The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago.
- 49.2016.2
![Drawing in crayon and gouache, featuring the face of African-American entertainer, Josephine Baker [whose exotic appearance and seductive dance movements caused a sensation in 1920’s Paris.] Her face, the largest element in the drawing, takes up a significant portion of the top half of the page. Small, loose 'gesture' drawings of four nude dancing women are in the bottom half. These are arranged in a semi-circle starting at her ear (viewer’s left) dipping around her neck, and rising up again to her other ear. The effect is as if the figures form a fantastical “collar” around her neck. Overall, the drawing has the feeling of a stage set - with a spotlight above her head and lights on either side. Clearly, she’s the main attraction, the dancing figurese are the supporting act. Baker’s face is rendered as an animated caricature/sketch. She has dark skin, bright flashing eyes (looking to to viewer’s right) with pronounced (mascared/false) eyelashes and bold black liner on top and lower eye lids emphasizing the almond shape of her eyes. Her hair is closely cropped and slicked down (lacquered) around her head (as if it were painted on) with a curl pasted on her forehead, and one on each of her cheeks. [The severe hairstyle popular in the 1920’s, sometimes called the “Eton crop” ie like a schoolboy’s, emphasizes the shape of the head and focuses interest on the face. It was Baker’s signature look.] A diagonal white line on her dark hair (almost like a side part) makes her hair seem shiny, as if catching a reflection of light. She has an indistinctly shaped nose (defined only by a small swiggly line at the very tip.) Her smile is broad and engaging. She appears to be wearing shiny lipstick (a glimmer of light reflects on her lower lip.) Her teeth are rendered as a solid half-moon shape, completely filled in with dazzling white. It is the brightest area in the drawing, falling almost in the center, and keeps commanding the viewer’s attention. Her forehead is a dark brown while the bottom (from nose to chin) is a light beige color - as if illuminated by some light source. Her head floats between two parallel diagonal lines as if caught in a beam from a spotlight shining down from somewhere above the upper left corner. The “beam' of light is set against a royal blue background, almost like a curtain or stage backdrop. Further giving the impression of a theatrical setting, within each blue area there is an uncolored, rounded shape that looks like the diffused glow from a klieg or stage light. Following the beam down from the spot light, one finds the four naked dancing figures beneath the face. They could be quick sketches of “Josephine” dancing. Each has her cropped hairstyle. Two appear to wear bananas at their hips, one sports ostrich feathers on her rear. [These 'accessories' might be references to her famous scandalous costumes - which included a belt made from bananas or strategically placed feathers.] The fourth has no accessories to embellish her birthday suit. They are in various dynamic poses as if caught in mid motion. Each dancer has very expressive hand gestures. From viewer’s left, dancer A (the largest of the four) is positioned at about 8 o’clock, dancer B (doing a deep knee bend with one leg pointed straight out) at about 7 o’clock, dancer C (smiling, boldly naked, and facing viewer directly) at about 5 o’clock; and dancer D (the smallest figure looking like she is running off in the distance ) at about 3 o’clock. The artist used a limited palette: besides brown/beige/taupe/black/white (face and bodies of the dancers); there is cobalt blue (on either side and at the bottom of the “spotlight”); a hint of acid yellow (by dancer A); and a hint of pale mauve/pink (by dancer C.) What’s remarkable about this drawing is how the artist captured the charisma and sensuality of Josephine Baker in a relatively simple sketch of her head. Her giant face has tremendous personality and a most engaging almost blinding smile as compared to, and balanced by, the four smaller, sinuous but anonymous dancing figures beneath. There is a clarity and logic to the graphic design - as the diagonals and circular lines keep directing the viewer back to Josephine's face.Drawing in crayon and gouache, featuring the face of Josephine Baker (African American entertainer whose exotic appearance and seductive dance movements caused a sensation in 1920’s Paris.) Her face, the largest element in the drawing, takes up a significant portion of the top half of the page. Small, loose 'gesture' drawings of four nude dancing women are in the bottom half. These are arranged in a semi-circle starting at her ear (viewer’s left) dipping around her neck, and rising up again to her other ear. The effect is as if the figures form a fantastical “collar” around her neck. Overall, the drawing has the feeling of a stage set - a spotlight above her head and lights on either side. Clearly, she’s the main attraction, the other dancers are the supporting act. Baker’s face is rendered as an animated caricature/sketch. She has dark skin, bright flashing eyes (looking to to viewer’s right) with pronounced (mascared/false) eyelashes and bold black liner on top and lower eye lids emphasizing the almond shape of her eyes. Her hair is closely cropped and slicked down (lacquered) around her head (as if it were painted on) with a curl pasted on her forehead, and one on each of her cheeks. [The severe hairstyle popular in the 1920’s, sometimes called the “Eton crop” ie like a schoolboy’s, emphasizes the shape of the head and focuses interest on the face. It was Baker’s signature look.] A diagonal white line on her dark hair (almost like a side part) makes her hair seem shiny, as if catching a reflection of light. She has an indistinctly shaped nose (defined only by a small swiggly line at the very tip.) Her smile is broad and engaging. She appears to be wearing shiny lipstick (a glimmer of light reflects on her lower lip.) Her teeth are rendered as a solid half-moon shape, completely filled in with bright white. It is the brightest area in the drawing, falling almost in the center, and keeps commanding the viewer’s attention. Her forehead is a dark brown while the bottom (from nose to chin) is a light beige color - as if illuminated by some light source. Her head floats between two parallel diagonal lines as if caught in a beam from a spotlight shining down from somewhere above the upper left corner. The “beam' of light is set against a royal blue background, almost like a curtain or stage backdrop. Further giving the impression of a stage set, within each blue area there is an uncolored, rounded shape that looks like the halo from a glowing light. As the viewer follows the light beam, one finds the four naked dancing figures beneath the face. They could be quick sketches of “Josephine” dancing. Each has her cropped hairstyle. Two appear to wear bananas at their hips, one sports ostrich feathers on her rear (these 'accessories' might be references to her famous scandalous costumes - which included a belt made from bananas or strategically placed feathers.) The fourth has no accessories to embellish her birthday suit. They are in various dynamic poses, and each one has expressive hand gestures. From viewer’s left, dancer A (the largest of the four) is positioned at about 8 o’clock, dancer B (doing a deep knee bend with one leg pointed straight out) at about 7 o’clock, dancer C (smiling, boldly naked, and facing viewer directly) at about 5 o’clock; and dancer D (the smallest figure looking like she is running off in the distance ) at about 3 o’clock. The artist used a limited palette: besides brown/beige/taupe/black/white (face and bodies of the dancers); there is cobalt blue (on either side and at the bottom of the “spotlight”); a hint of acid yellow (by dancer A); and a hint of pale mauve/pink (by dancer C.) What’s remarkable about this drawing is how the artist captured the charisma and sensuality of Josephine Baker in a relatively simple sketch of her head. Her giant face has tremendous personality and a most engaging dazzling white smile as compared to, and balanced by, the four smaller, sinuous but anonymous dancing figures beneath. There is a clarity and logic to the graphic design - as the diagonals and circular lines keep directing the viewer back to Josephine's face.](https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/325249_07a030cfa0f81d5c_n.jpg "Object ID #907131607")
- Object ID #907131607
- crayon and gouache on paper.
- The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago.
- 49.2016.3
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- Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library, M1366.E44....
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Its dimensions are
36 × 42 in. (91.4 × 106.7 cm)
It is signed
Lower Right Corner: "A.J. Motley, Jr. / Paris"
"Lost Your Head Blues," Bessie Smith (1926)
Bessie Smith might be the most popular blues artist from the 1920s. Known as the “Empress of the Blues,” she is heard on “Lost Your Head Blues” with Fletcher Henderson on piano and Joseph...
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.
