Art Tatum, Silhouette, New York
Artist: Herman Leonard (American, 1923 - 2010)
Date: 1953; printed 1990
Dimensions:
image: 15 x 13 9/16 in. (38.1 x 34.4 cm)
sheet: 19 7/8 x 16 in. (50.5 x 40.6 cm)
Medium: gelatin-silver print
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by the Harold Jaffe Family and
the University of Toledo Humanities Institute
Object number: 1991.25
Label Text:Art Tatum—the beloved Toledo-born jazz pianist who influenced, astounded, confused, and intimidated a generation of jazz musicians with his endless imagination and virtuosity—was captured in this photograph as a dark presence silhouetted against a shadow-stained backdrop, his hands poised above the light-kissed keys of a grand piano. The reflected light brings focus to the classically trained hands Art Tatum, Silhouette, New York that fused astonishing technique with a graceful sense of swing.
Herman Leonard has been characterized as “the greatest jazz photographer in the history of the genre.” A graduate of Ohio University, the only university to offer a degree in photography in the early 1940s, Leonard went on to apprentice with the master portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh. In 1949 Leonard established a studio in Greenwich Village, from which he ventured to jazz clubs on Broadway, 52nd Street, and Harlem, where he befriended and photographed some of the greatest performers in jazz history.
Herman Leonard has been characterized as “the greatest jazz photographer in the history of the genre.” A graduate of Ohio University, the only university to offer a degree in photography in the early 1940s, Leonard went on to apprentice with the master portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh. In 1949 Leonard established a studio in Greenwich Village, from which he ventured to jazz clubs on Broadway, 52nd Street, and Harlem, where he befriended and photographed some of the greatest performers in jazz history.
Not on view
In Collection(s)