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"Katharine Cornell as Juliet, " E. Smith Photograph of Sculpture by Barthé

About the Item

This important photograph represents the confluence of three leading lights of New York's artistic world in the 1930s and 1940s: Katharine Cornell, known as "First Lady of the Theatre;" Richmond Barthé, America's leading Black sculptor; and the famous photography studio of Morgan and Marvin Smith. This original black and white photograph captures Cornell in one of her lesser known roles, as Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet," costarring Basil Rathbone, which premiered in 1933 and was featured in a national tour that year. This photograph dates from a few years later, after the Smith brothers opened their photography studio on West 125th Street next to the renowned Apollo Theater. The Smiths brought together almost every major figure in the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, mentoring artists such as Jacob Lawrence, Gwendolyn Knight, Selma Burke, Ernest Crichlow and Robert Blackburn. The Smiths captured the night life of Harlem, including musicians and actors such as Harry Belafonte, Sydney Poitier, Eartha Kitt, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Count Basie, Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, Hattie McDaniels, Zora Neal Hurston, Step n' Fetchit, Pearl Bailey, Paul Robeson, Duke Ellington and Marian Anderson. The Smiths were asked by Barthé to capture several of his sculptures in the 1940s, including this bronze, which is now owned by the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian.
  • Creator:
    Richmond Barthé (Sculptor)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 10 in (25.4 cm)Width: 8 in (20.32 cm)
  • Style:
    Art Deco (Of the Period)
  • Place of Origin:
    United States
  • Period:
    1940-1949
  • Date of Manufacture:
    Circa 1940s
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU8651954818

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