Photograph of LaVern Baker: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photographic portrait of LaVern Baker. Depicted is a woman smiling. She is wearing earrings and a matching headband. Her body is angled to her right and she is looking up and to the right as well. She is wearing a black sleeveless dress. In the bottom right corner white text reads "Bruno/ of/ Hollywood/ NYC." Below the photo it says “La Vern Baker PER. MGT. / S.R.O. Artists/ 200 W. 57th. St. N.Y.C. General Artists Corporation/ New York Chicago Beverly Hills Dallas Miami Beach London."

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1950-1960
• Photograph by: Bruno Bernard, American, 1912 - 1987
• Distributed by: General Artists Corporation, American, founded 1940
• Subject of: LaVern Baker, American, 1929 - 1997
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 8 13/16 × 7 5/16 in. (22.4 × 18.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 9 15/16 × 8 1/16 in. (25.3 × 20.5 cm)
• Place captured: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Blues (Music)
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2013.118.184.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.