Wedding Day, Harlem

1926, printed 1974

James Van Der Zee

Associated Names
James Van Der Zee

Artist, American, 1886 - 1983

Richard Benson

Printer, American, 1943 - 2017

This black-and-white photograph shows a couple in a seated position. The man is seated slightly behind the woman, and he wears a dark suit with a white shirt and a bow tie and holds a top hat. He is looking downwards. The woman looks out at us, wearing a white bridal gown with lace details, gloves, and a decorative veil over her hair. She holds a bouquet of flowers and sits on an ornately carved chair. The two of them sit slightly to the right of center, with their bodies facing the left. They are surrounded by an elaborately painted backdrop, featuring stone buildings, columns, and painted greenery. There is a plush white rug on the ground. In the bottom left corner is the transparent image of a young girl in a white dress and with a white bow in her dark hair, holding a doll.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund

  • Dimensions

    image/sheet: 23.7 × 17.5 cm (9 5/16 × 6 7/8 in.)
    mount: 38.1 × 31.7 cm (15 × 12 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2021.22.1.12

  • Portfolio Title

    James Van Der Zee: Eighteen Photographs

  • Copyright

    © James Van Der Zee Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Associated Artworks

See all 18 artworks

Mrs. Turner, Lenox, Massachusetts

James Van Der Zee, Richard Benson

1905

James Van Der Zee: Eighteen Photographs

James Van Der Zee, Richard Benson

1905

This is a black-and-white photograph of a classroom with students seated in ornate wooden desks. The room is lit with natural light coming in from large windows at the top. The walls are wooden and decorated with papers and photographs, including a framed portrait on the right. There are rows of desks with detailed metalwork on the side panels, and while some of the desks closest to us are empty, there are several rows of students in the center of the photograph. The students are mostly facing the left, but some turn their heads to look at us. Many of them hold books. They are dressed formally, and most appear to have dark skin, although one or two seem to have lighter skin. In the back a woman with dark skin stands behind the desks, her arms behind her back, wearing a white dress.

Whittier Preparatory School, Phoebus, Virginia

James Van Der Zee, Richard Benson

1907

More About this Artwork

Article:  34 Artworks About Love at the National Gallery

From first kisses to tragic romances, our collection abounds with love, in all its forms.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The Estate of Harry H. Lunn, Jr.; Myriam Lunn, New York, 1998; NGA purchase (through Florence Lunn, New York), 2021.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

signed by artist, lower right below image in graphite: J Van Der Zee

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