Hot Jazz: Museum Object and Cultural History
Hot Jazz: Date: 1952. Photograph by: Hugh Cecil Lancelot Bell, American, 1927 - 2012. Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men.
The object in the museum catalogue
A black and white gelatin photograph of a jazz band performing at Circle in the Square, New York, 1952. Silhouetted against a hazy dark background, the band members wear dark suits with bright long sleeve shirts. From left to right: a man bends backwards at the knees as he blows into his clarinet, a man stands upright with a saxophone, a man sits or crouches to play the double bass, a man wearing eyeglasses sits at a drum set, a dark-haired man plays a guitar, and facing the guitarist, a dark-haired man plays the trombone. At bottom right of the image, the hands of a person out of frame are raised in the air. On verso, the title of the photograph is inscribed along the upper edge, and the artist’s mark: [HUGH BELL PHOTOGRAPHY] is stamped in black ink.
Materials, dates and provenance
- Date: 1952
- Photograph by: Hugh Cecil Lancelot Bell, American, 1927 - 2012
- Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
- Type: gelatin silver prints
- Medium: silver and gelatin on paper (fiber product)
- Dimensions: H x W (image): 6 3/8 × 8 7/8 in. (16.2 × 22.6 cm)
- Dimensions: H x W (sheet): 8 × 9 15/16 in. (20.3 × 25.3 cm)
- Place captured: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
- Topic: African American
- Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
- Topic: Jazz (Music)
- Topic: Music
- Topic: Musicians
- Topic: Photography
- Object number: 2019.85.6
- Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, generously supported by the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation
- 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: © The Estate of High Bell Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
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