Van Der Zee, James. James VanDerZee, Photographer.

James VanDerZee Institute, 1972. Designed by Vance Allen. Wraps, 24 pages (including blank pages), catalog of a traveling exhibition, with 10 black-and-white photographs. [Van Der Zee also known as VanDerZee, Van DerZee.] Good with spots on cover, interior pages fine.  Summary:

James VanDerZee, Photographer (1972) — Traveling Exhibition Catalog

Published by the James VanDerZee Institute and beautifully formatted by designer Vance Allen, this slender 24-page softcover booklet (which includes several blank pages for structural pacing) serves as the official catalog for a historic traveling exhibition.

Unlike the massive 159-page hardback monograph released the same year, this minimal, highly focused publication was designed to accompany a curated selection of VanDerZee's work as it toured museums and universities across the United States, introducing his legacy to a broader national audience following his rediscovery during the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 1969 Harlem on My Mind exhibition.

Key Features and Curation

• The 10-Photograph Checklist: Due to its strict page budget, the catalog distills VanDerZee’s vast archive into exactly 10 definitive black-and-white photographs. This highly selective portfolio acts as a concise summary of his aesthetic, spanning the 1900s through the 1940s.

• The Harlem Renaissance Spirit: The 10 images focus heavily on the pride, dignity, and economic upward mobility of the Black middle class. It includes his celebrated studio portraiture of elegantly dressed families, children, and social clubs, alongside his sharp street-level documentation of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) marches.

• Darkroom Artistry: The selected plates showcase VanDerZee's signature use of complex, multi-negative photomontages, proving to a new generation of museum-goers that he was not merely a commercial street-studio worker, but a sophisticated avant-garde printmaker.

Design and Production

Vance Allen’s minimalist design turns the brief 24-page format into an elegant art object. By leaving several pages entirely blank, Allen forced viewers to slow down, creating visual "breathing room" between the rich, high-contrast black-and-white plates. The printing was carefully calibrated to preserve the intricate details of VanDerZee’s prop-heavy studio backdrops and the deep tonal warmth of his original glass-plate negatives.

Significance

This specific 24-page softcover catalog is highly prized by collectors today as a vital piece of ephemeral American art history. While a thick monograph preserved his life story, this traveling catalog was the actual vehicle that carried James VanDerZee’s imagery directly into communities across the country, fundamentally altering how mid-century America viewed early 20th-century Black identity and self-determination.