Bessie Smith Close Up;Bessie Smith Close Up
1926 – 1929 (Date manufactured/created)
1926 – 1929 (Date manufactured/created)
1926 – 1929 (Date manufactured/created)
Oil, Oil
rice paper, rice paper, painting, painting
16 1/4 in. H
X
12 in. W
16 1/4 in. H X 12 in. W , Diameter , Circumference Measurement Notes:
16 1/4 in. H X 12 in. W , Diameter , Circumference Measurement Notes:
Portrait of blues singer Bessie Smith. Estate stamp lower left.
Portrait of blues singer Bessie Smith. Estate stamp lower left.
History: Bessie Smith (1894-1937), known as the "Empress of the Blues," was born in Chattanooga, TN and was the first blues singer to reach a mass audience, through the Columbia Recording Company between 1923 and 1929. Between 1923 and 1928 she cut over 180 song recordings for Columbia.
Smith started in vaudeville in 1920 in Atlantic City and worked her way to the Harlem clubs of New York. She died from injuries following a car accident; the racist policies of hospitals in 1937 delayed her medical treatment until it was too late to save her life.
Portrait of blues singer Bessie Smith. Estate stamp lower left.
History: Bessie Smith (1894-1937), known as the "Empress of the Blues," was born in Chattanooga, TN and was the first blues singer to reach a mass audience, through the Columbia Recording Company between 1923 and 1929. Between 1923 and 1928 she cut over 180 song recordings for Columbia.
Smith started in vaudeville in 1920 in Atlantic City and worked her way to the Harlem clubs of New York. She died from injuries following a car accident; the racist policies of hospitals in 1937 delayed her medical treatment until it was too late to save her life.
Gift of David Eliscu and Peter Eliscu, 2001
Gift of David Eliscu and Peter Eliscu, 2001
Gift of David Eliscu and Peter Eliscu, 2001
2001.1.1