Blackbirds
Watercolour Drawing
1936 (made)
1936 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Charcoal and watercolour design for a stage curtain for a revue with an all-African American cast entitled 'Blackbirds'.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Blackbirds (assigned by artist) |
Materials and techniques | Charcoal and watercolour design |
Brief description | Ernst Stern. Design for stage curtain for the all-African American revue 'Blackbirds', produced at the Lyceum Theatre, London. Great Britain, 1936. |
Physical description | Charcoal and watercolour design for a stage curtain for a revue with an all-African American cast entitled 'Blackbirds'. |
Dimensions |
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Credit line | Given by the Artist |
Object history | The 'Blackbirds' revue was created by Lew Leslie, a Broadway writer and vaudeville manager. Although white, he was the first impresario to present African American artists on the mainstream stage. He became famous for his stage shows at the Cotton Club and later for his 'Blackbird' revues, which he mounted in 1926, 1928, 1930, 1933 & 1939. 'Blackbirds of 1928' starring Adelaide Hall and Bill Bojangles Robinson was his most successful revue and ran for over one year on Broadway where it became the hit of the season. The sell-out show transferred to the Moulin Rouge in Paris, France, where it ran for three months before returning to the U.S.A. The 'Blackbird' revues helped advance the career of several famous artists, including Florence Mills, Adelaide Hall, Tim Moore, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, Aida Ward and Lottie Gee. In 1936, Johnny Mercer visited Britain for the first time as part of Lew Leslie's "Blackbirds of 1936" for which Mercer wrote many of the lyrics. Mercer was surprised to learn of the transatlantic popularity, not only of his own songs, but also of southern-themed American culture in general. |
Subjects depicted | |
Place depicted | |
Bibliographic reference | Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1937, London: Board of Education, 1938. |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.1230-1937 |
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Record created | June 30, 2009 |
Record URL |
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