James Van Der Zee

The Studio Museum in Harlem holds a 50,000 item plus archive of negatives and prints of James Van Der Zee

Having held the archive for decades, the Studio Museum will now partner with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to manage the prints and negatives by the Van Der Zee, as well as his ephemera and photo equipment.

In a statement, the artist’s widow Donna Van Der Zee said, “That The Met’s acquisition will allow the public to witness, learn from, and be moved by the beauty and diversity captured in Van’s photographs gives me tremendous joy. The collection has found an ideal permanent home.”

Thelma Golden, the Studio Museum’s director, praised the partnership as a vital attempt to bring the archive “under one roof, where the technical challenges of conservation and digitization will be expertly managed, and our ongoing work in advancing knowledge of Van Der Zee will be supported and amplified by a great partner.”

James Van Der Zee, who died in 1983, created what are now considered some of the most important documents of Harlem during the first half of the 20th century. But his work was not known widely until 1969, when the Met mounted “Harlem on My Mind,” an exhibition about the New York neighborhood that faced controversy because it was organized by a white man, largely without community involvement, and because it featured no paintings or sculptures by artists living there.

Not everything about the Van Der Zee archive has proven so easy, however. In 1981, Van Der Zee himself sued the Studio Museum, claiming that he was never totally compensated when the institution agreed to become the custodian of his archive in 1976. In 1984, the suit was settled, with Van Der Zee’s estate regaining half the 50,000-work collection signed over to the Studio Museum.

Seen on West 127th Street

A hopeful message for 2022.


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