Poster of Etta Moten Barnett: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a black and white poster for Etta Moten Barnett. She is posed in the bottom left corner of the image in a quarter turn and gazes into the distance. She is depicted from the shoulders upwards, wearing a top of sheer dark lace with a deep neckline. Her left hand, wearing a dark glove, is held up to her left cheek. She has a multistrand necklace around her neck and earrings. Across the top margin of the poster is a white band. In black text it reads “THE CHICAGO CONCERT BUREAU PRESENTS.” Below this in large white text against a dark background are the words “ETTA / MOTEN.” In the space between her face and the right-hand margin is black text that reads “Mezzo-Contralto / In / SONG / RECITAL.” There is a wide white margin below the image with black text that reads “NCAC / NATIONAL CONCERT AND ARTISTS CORPORATION / O.O. Bottorff – Marks Levine / 711 Fifth Avenue, New York 22, N.Y. Plaza 9-600 / Special Attractions Division – Selma Warlick, Director.” The bottom margin has a black border. There is a long tear through the bottom third of the poster, and several large black smudge marks along the right-hand margin.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1945
• Published by: National Concert and Artists Corporation
• Subject of: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Subject of: O.O. Bottorff
• Subject of: Marks Levine
• Subject of: Selma Warlick Warner
• Owned by: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Type: posters
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product) on cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W: 16 15/16 × 10 15/16 in. (43 × 27.8 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: Women
• Object number: A2022.13.1.40
• 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: Unknown – Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.