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ROY DECARAVA (1919-2009)
Dancers.
Silver print, the image measuring 12
7
/
8
x8
3
/
4
inches (32.7x22.2
cm.), the sheet slightly larger, with DeCarava’s signature, print date, and
copyright, in pencil, on recto. 1956; printed 1981
[15,000/25,000]
Acquired directly from the Photographer; to a Private Collector, in the 1990s.
Roy DeCarava’s photographs frequently drew on his experiences in
Harlem, where he lived for many years. Trained as a painter and
printmaker, he began exploring photography in the late 1940s, and was
awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1952. Subsequently, he collaborated
with Langston Hughes on
The Sweet Flypaper of Life
, which was published
in 1955.
A master image-maker and photographic printer, DeCarava’s photographs
were created with a sophisticated, nuanced eye. His accomplished
darkroom work resulted in stunning prints that capture the subtleties of
a picture’s mid-range or shadow tones along with its highlights. For
collectors of African American Fine Art and Classical Photography, he is
an important crossover figure whose images depict everyday life and
convey the full meaning of “the photographic object.”
Galassi,
Roy DeCarava:A Retrospective
(Museum of Modern Art), p. 211.