The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

David, New York

David, New York

1952
(American, 1919–2009)
Image: 31.6 x 25.5 cm (12 7/16 x 10 1/16 in.); Paper: 35.3 x 27.9 cm (13 7/8 x 11 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 45.7 cm (22 x 18 in.)
© The Estate of Roy DeCarava and Sherry Turner DeCarava
Location: not on view

Description

A Harlem native, Roy DeCarava photographed the joys and travails of everyday life there—people “going to work, coming home from work, at play, in the streets”—in order “to show the strength, the wisdom, the dignity of the Negro people.” DeCarava said, “I want a creative expression, the kind of penetrating insight and understanding of Negroes I believe only a Negro photographer can interpret.” In DeCarava’s book with Langston Hughes, The Sweet Flypaper of Life (on view in the middle of the room), the text is a fictional monologue. The caption for this boy’s image reads, “Rodney’s boy growed up like that little child down the street. Sad. He don’t never smile.”
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 139
  • A New York Minute: Street Photography, 1920-1950. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-November 7, 2021).
    Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-September 16, 2007); Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh, PA (October 3, 2009-January 3, 2010).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (6/24/07 - 9/16/07) and Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittburgh, PA (10/3/2009 - 1/3/2010); "Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art", no exhibition catalogue.
    Looking at Children: Photographs from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 20-December 4, 2002).
    CMA, July 20 - December 4, 2002; "Looking at Children". No catalog.
    CMA, November 20,1996 - February 2, 1997: "Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art."
    Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).
  • {{cite web|title=David, New York|url=false|author=Roy DeCarava|year=1952|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1996.20