[Woman Holding Hat with Painted Backdrop]

CultureUnknown
Titles
  • [Woman Holding Hat with Painted Backdrop]
Date1940s–1950s
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsMount: 5 × 3 1/2 in. (12.7 × 8.9 cm)
Credit LineBarbara Levine and Paige Ramey Collection, museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2020.137.20.41
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
DescriptionTwentieth-century studio portraits were particularly important for African Americans: Their creation coincided with the mass circulation of derogatory depictions of African Americans in music, theater, and art. In contrast, photographic self-representation offered the opportunity to establish new social and political identities. Wearing their finest clothing or creative costumes in front of sets evoking centuries-old portraiture traditions, the figures in these photographs are representative of a larger cultural assertion of modern life through the medium of photography.
ProvenanceBarbara Levine and Paige Ramey; purchased by MFAH, 2020.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Trace (gray backdrop)
Caleb Cole
2016, printed 2022
Inkjet print
2022.146
[Women Holding Hands Walking Uphill]
1940s–1950s
Gelatin silver print
2020.137.19.105
[Group of Women Holding Boxes with Numbers]
1910s–1920s
Gelatin silver print
2020.137.27.81
Untitled (from Self-Portraits series – woman with painted face)
Chris Iduma
2021, printed 2021
Inkjet print
2022.46
[Woman Driving Car]
1910s–1920s
Gelatin silver print
2020.137.27.86
[Woman with Cigarette]
1950s–1960s
Gelatin silver print
2020.137.27.172
[man wearing box as a hat holding a push broom]
no date
Gelatin silver print
2014.532
[Girl Holding Her Dress Out, Handmade and colored photo statuette]
no date
Gelatin silver print with applied color, mounted to wood
2020.137.118
[Group wearing Sombreros, Holding a U.S.A. Mexico Sign]
1910s–1930s
Gelatin silver print
2020.137.9.85
[Man Seated Holding Top Hat and Umbrella]
1860s
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2020.95