In the exhibition titled “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
“A network of African American women in Paris enriched the interwar blossoming of Black culture known as the Harlem Renaissance. French society was by no means colorblind, but it lacked the segregation policies of the United States. In Paris, American women of color felt liberated from the double burden of racial and gender-based discrimination. They were free to study at the city’s many art academies and private studios and to show their work in prestigious exhibitions. Writers thrived in an environment that seemed far more egalitarian than the one at home. . .
“Ada ‘Bricktop’ Smith was the enterprising proprietor of several popular Montmartre nightspots. At her clubs, black and white Americans mingled freely . . . Bricktop’s one-time protégé, the singer and dancer Josephine Baker (1906-1975), was the most famous American living in Paris. She rocketed to stardom by performing theatrical roles based on French colonial stereotypes of Africa. . .
“In 1935, Josephine Baker returned to the United States for the first time in ten years. Hotels and restaurants refused to accommodate her, and reviews of her performances were lackluster.
“By contrast, Baker received a hero’s welcome on arriving back in France, In interviews, she expressed deep gratitude to the French people ‘to whom I owe being Josephine Baker.’ This exuberant poster celebrates Baker’s appearance in a show written specifically for her. It commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the Folies Bergere, a renowned Parisian musical hall.
“Baker became a French citizen in 1937. The racism she experienced in the United States, however, awakened her political consciousness. In 1963, she returned to the United States to speak at the March on Washington for jobs and Freedom. She told the crowd, ‘I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad.” [Excerpts from the accompanying text]
[Note: The poster is approximately 10 feet 9 inches tall (about 3.27 meters). It’s a truly impressive piece!]
