![[Billy]](/internal/media/dispatcher/309498/preview)
Artist
Louis Draper(American, 1935–2002)American, 1935–2002
CultureAmerican
Titles
- [Billy]
Datec. 1966
Place depictedSpanish Harlem, New York, United States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 1/8 × 13 5/8 in. (23.2 × 34.6 cm)
Sheet: 9 1/8 × 13 5/8 in. (23.2 × 34.6 cm)
Mount: 14 × 18 1/8 in. (35.6 × 46 cm)
Sheet: 9 1/8 × 13 5/8 in. (23.2 × 34.6 cm)
Mount: 14 × 18 1/8 in. (35.6 × 46 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Jereann Chaney, Geoffrey C. Koslov, Joan Morgenstern, and Clinton T. Willour in honor of Anne Wilkes Tucker on the occasion of her retirement
Object number2015.204
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographySpecial Collections
Object Type
images in Edward Steichen’s exhibition catalogue The Family of Man, which mysteriously
appeared in his college dorm room, Louis Draper headed from Virginia to New
York in 1957 to become a photographer. With teachers and mentors including
Langston Hughes, W. Eugene Smith, and Roy DeCarava, Draper discovered the rich cultural
and intellectual milieu of Harlem and the possibility that great art could grow
from everyday experience. In 1963, with other black photographers, he founded
the Kamoinge Workshop, whose members dedicated themselves to “speak of our
lives as only we can.”
ProvenanceThe artist; Anthony Barboza, Westbury, New York; purchased by MFAH, 2015.
Exhibition History"In Appreciation: Gifts in Honor of Anne Wilkes Tucker," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 26–October 11, 2015.
"Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 27–August 30, 2020.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed in pencil, mount recto, lower right: Louis Draper
Signed in pencil, mount recto, lower right: Louis Draper
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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