Friday, January 24, 2014
This week’s post serves as a caption for the alternative image that the Library’s opening web page has been using when it highlights the Vandamm exhibition, Pioneering Poet of Li…
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 11:21AMTuesday, January 14, 2014
Part of the job of performance documentation was creation of images for the promotional articles, that ran in magazines such as Theatre. The featured play article featured 6 – 8 photo…
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 06:48AMMonday, December 9, 2013
This post answers a question about the image that the Library’s web page has been using when it highlights the Vandamm exhibition, Pioneering Poet of Light. I was thrilled when the w…
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 06:16AMMonday, December 2, 2013
The most recent post looked at Vandamm photographs of dance rehearsals from footholds on the catwalks, ladders and rigging stations of Broadway theaters. This one focuses on their photograp…
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 05:42AMWednesday, November 20, 2013
“Hey up there”
Broadway precision chorus lines were a staple of musical comedies and revues. A straight line of precision tappers, kickers or steppers could excite the audience …
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 05:28AMThursday, October 24, 2013
It has been a while since the last blog post. I have been busy with the installation and opening tours related to our final Fall exhibition, The Line Kings’ Library: Al Hirschfeld at T…
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 10:24AMTuesday, September 17, 2013
During the War, Florence Vandamm had not lost her skill at showing character and movement. Her career was, in many ways, redefined by the portraits commissioned by Suffragist actress Sybil …
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 01:47PMMonday, September 16, 2013
Before leaving London in 1923, Florence Vandamm photographed Sybil Thorndike in at least five additional roles. Thorndike was known for her ability to play comedy and tragedy, so there was …
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 01:18PMFriday, September 6, 2013
This post could also be called "In praise of Internet research." In terms of research, it was a triumph; in all other senses, a tragedy. Thanks to NYPL's electronic resources a…
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 08:32AMMonday, August 19, 2013
There is evidence that Commander Evans distributed autographed copies of portraits at his lectures, probably the Vandamm portrait. There is a description, here in the LPA collections, of …
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 07:22AMFriday, August 16, 2013
One of the factors that brought success to the Florence Vandamm Studio in London and, later the Vandamm Studio in NYC, was her ability to keep track of negatives. This blog contains a prim…
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 11:00AMTuesday, August 13, 2013
I admit to a historical prejudice—I really wanted Florence Vandamm to be a Suffragist. A woman running her own business in London, 1908, it just seemed natural. But the road to verif…
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 11:22AMMonday, August 5, 2013
Perhaps the most widely published and least understood visual record of 20th century performing arts, the output of the Vandamm Studio has largely been utilized only as illustrative backdrop…
SOURCE: The New York Public Library at 07:29AM 
