Photographic print of Josephine Baker performing at the Folies Bergère: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of Josephine Baker performing the Charleston on stage at Folies Bergère. The photograph features Baker at center standing on a reflective stage. She is doing the Charleston and looking to the left of the photograph. Behind her, a backdrop of an art deco style drawing shows buildings and ships. The bottom right corner has the photographer's mark. The back of the photograph has a handwritten inscription that identifies the venue as the Folies Bergère.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1926
• Photograph by: Stanislaw Julian Ignacy Ostrorog, 1863 - 1929
• Subject of: Josephine Baker, American, 1906 - 1975
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 10 3/4 × 7 7/8 in. (27.3 × 20 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 11 13/16 × 8 5/16 in. (30 × 21.1 cm)
• Place depicted: Paris, Île-de-France, France, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2016.135.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Jean-Claude Baker
• 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 displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.