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Blackbirds

Watercolour Drawing
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
TitleBlackbirds (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
  • Height: 13.125in
  • Width: 15.125in
Dimensions taken from the Victoria & Albert Museum Accessions register of 1937, in the Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design & Department of Paintings. London: Published under the Authority of The Board of Education, 1938.
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 createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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