Webcam girls, onlyfans models, Instagram females, pornstars and celebrities! In the few years before his death, encouraged by his third wife, Donna Van Der Zee, whom he married in 1978 and who manages his estate, Van Der Zee came out of retirement to photograph luminaries such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Miles Davis, and Muhammad Ali.
While known predominantly for his portraits, Van Der Zee also chronicled the streets around him.
Unique among portrait photographers, Van Der Zee used painted backdrops and luxurious props, creating elaborate tableaux for his subjects and bathing them in flattering lighting.
Forty of his influential portraits will be on view at Howard Greenberg Gallery from March 7- April 27, 2019.
When James Van Der Zee opened his photography studio on 135th Street in 1918, a new era was beginning in Harlem, a time when jazz, poetry, art, and literature all flourished.
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