As Black History Month draws to a close, Gartenberg Media Enterprises (GME) is pleased to announce that the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has acquired six lifetime silver gelatin prints from the Hugh Bell archive for their permanent collection. Says GME Fine Arts Curator David Deitch, “In preserving the legacy of an artist, there is nothing more gratifying than the prestige that comes from a museum acquiring his work. We are especially pleased that NMAAHC, the premiere international institution dedicated to the history, culture and artistic achievements of the African American community, recognizes the significance of Hugh Bell ‘s photographs within this context.”

Hugh Bell (1927-2012) was a renowned art and commercial photographer of Afro-Caribbean descent, who worked in New York City over the course of his entire professional career (1952 – 2012). Bell graduated with a degree in Journalism and Cinematic Art from NYU in 1952. His photograph “Hot Jazz” from the same year was later included in “The Family of Man” exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in 1955. In 1956, Bell was featured in the March issue of Popular Photography. He achieved greatest recognition for his numerous pictures of jazz greats (“Jazz Giants” series).

◊

He photographed other subjects as well, including Afro-Caribbean cultures, rural life in Spain, the female figure (“Bell’s Belles”) and the LGBT community. Bell captured in still photographs the opening night of Circle in the Square’s 1952 production of Tennessee Williams’s play “Summer and Smoke”, starring Geraldine Page, and also the St. Mark’s Playhouse 1961 production of Jean Genet’s play “The Blacks”, starring James Earl Jones, Maya Angelou, Cicely Tyson, Roscoe Lee Brown, Lou Gossett, Jr. and Godfrey Cambridge. As a result of his many decades of creative work, Hugh Bell’s artistic contributions were featured in Thomas Allen Harris’s groundbreaking 2014 documentary, “Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People.”

◊

Richard Leacock, the noted Cinema Verite filmmaker, befriended Hugh Bell early on in his career. Bell acknowledged that the filmmaker wanted to help minorities “get a good shake in the business”. Since Bell had studied Cinematic Arts at NYU, Leacock engaged him to be his assistant cameraman on “Jazz Dance” and other films. Bell also accompanied Leacock on several trips to Spain. From these professional connections grew a lifelong friendship between Bell and the Leacock family. The Hugh Bell archive contains poetic visual records of Bell’s visits to the Leacock family home.

Bell’s photographic essays have appeared in prominent publications, including Avant-Garde Magazine, Black Enterprise, Ebony, and Esquire. Bell also took numerous photographs that were used for print advertisements, and filmed commercials for television broadcast. These were especially geared toward the African-American community, including promotions for Maxwell House Coffee, Miller Beer, IBM computers., Gulf gasoline, and the US Navy. His photographs also graced numerous album covers of jazz artists, including Sarah Vaughan and Dexter Gordon.

Profile (1974)

◊

Upon his death, his son-in-law, Richard Martha, was named Executor of the Estate of Hugh Bell. In 2014, on behalf of the Estate, Martha engaged the boutique archival firm, Gartenberg Media Enterprises (GME), on an exclusive basis to manage the collection of Hugh Bellʼs photographs and to further the artistʼs legacy. GME has expended significant resources to identify, catalogue, and digitize the individual silver gelatin prints that comprise the Hugh Bell archive, together with jazz albums and publications in which his work appeared. Under GME’s stewardship, in 2016 Bell’s photograph of Sarah Vaughan was the basis for the Forever Stamp issue of this performer.

◊

Also in 2016, nine of Bell’s “Jazz Giants” photographs were loaned to Harvard University for an exhibition entitled “Art of Jazz: Form/Performance/Notes.” Most recently, the NMAAHC acquired a selection of Hugh Bell’s photographs that represent the breadth of this photographer’s artistry.

◊

All photographs are © The Estate of Hugh Bell.

For more information about Hugh Bell and his legacy, please contact:
info@gartenbergmedia.com.

News

National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Hugh Bell Photographs