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ARTheat
Photographs document history of black entertainers in America
By RANDALL CHASE
Associated Press Writer
NEWARK, Del.
The history of black enter
tainment in the 20th centuryis
traced in the footsteps of danc
ers like Alvin Ailey and
Katherine:'Dunham, accompa
nied by the voices of Paul
Robeson and Ella Fitzgerald,
scored by such composers as
Duke Ellington and Scott
dJoplin, and immortalized on
screen by actors like Dorothy
Dandridge and Sidney Poitier.
Now, many of those cultural
icons, along with lesser-known
entertainerswhonever stepped
from obscurity into the spot
light, can beseen frozenin time
in a photography exhibit at the
University of Delaware.
“Original Acts: Photographs
of African-American Perform
ersin the Paul R. Jones Collec
tion” will be on show through
March 28 at the University
Gallery.
It is the first exhibit of the
photographs since Jones, an
Atlantaentrepreneur and apio-
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Til Schweiger (L) portrays Max Schmelig and Leonard Roberts (R) portrays Joe Louis
he inspiring true
story of the rivalry
and unlikely lifelong
friendship between the great
est heavyweight boxing cham
pionsoftheir time, “The Brown
Bomber” Joe Louis and “The
Black Ulan of the Rhine” Max
Schmeling, will come to life in
the STARZ! Pictures original
movie Joe and Max
(www.starzmovies.com).
Joe and Max explores the
ironic difference between the
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neerintheacquisition of works
by black artists, agreed a year
ago to donate his collection to
the university.
“Wepulled from several hun
dred photographs,” he said.
“You’vé got dance, you've got
theater, you’vegotblues, you’ve
got jazz.”
Theexhibit features thework
of 12 black photographers who
represent arangeofstyle, geog
raphy and technique. The vast
majority are black and white,
but there also are color prints
and a handful of mixed-media
images.
“I think the show says as
much about the photographers
asit does about the people they
chose to photograph,” said
Amalia Amaki, curator of col
lection.
Amaki, an art historian from
Atlanta who has worked with
Jones since 1982, said Jones
had very few photographs in
his collection when she met
“That’s something over the
years that he’s really changed
his opinion about,” she said.
truth of historical events and
the way those eventsand their
participants were presented to
the public. The world needed
to see Louis and Schmeling as
enemies; however, they came
to see themselves as friends.
Boxers Joe Louis and Max
Schmeling were each manipu
lated by their respective gov
ernments and the press be
cause of the escalating ten
sions between the United
“ Historically, African-Ameri
can collectors have not been
strong collectors of photogra
phy. As a result of this collec
tion, moreand more of themare
looking at it.”
The images run the gamut
from a formal studio portrait of
W.C.HandybyP.H. Polk tothe
spontaneous street scenes of
such artists as Jim Alexander
and William Anderson.
Thesubjects themselves con
stitute a hall of fame of black
entertainers: Eubie Blake, Miles
Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Duke
Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald,
Carmen Mcßae, Paul Robeson,
Sarah Vaughan.
Among the photographers,
Jones’ personal favorites in
clude Alexander, Bert Andrews,
Ming Smith Murray and Sheila
Turner.
Alexander’s 1972 photo
graphs of Ellington catch the
composer in all his spotlighted
sophistication. But the simplic
ityof Alexander’sundated street
sceneofafiddleplayer perform
ing for two onlookers captures
the essence and passion of the
States and Germany in the
late 19305. Neither country
was ready to go to war with
the other, so they used Louis
and Schmeling to do it. White
America initially dismissed
Louisbecause of hisrace, then
conveniently embraced him as
a role model. Schmeling was
incorrectly labeled a Nazi, first
by the German government
and thenby the American press.
Intruth, all either man wanted
was tobecome the heavyweight
N Othin But | eTR
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Power Hitz. Vernon,the |il g u
yndisputedworld welter- | 3 o o :
weight champion, taped a , . R FLTEm ] i
show with Fattz and Cher : b Mi o g i
i it k] i sl
on Saturday, March 2, orl/ M o
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2002, among activities o | e L
ii B R
honoring Forrestthrough- | e w'“u ‘
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blues.
Some performers, like Denzel
Washington and James Earl
Jones, are seen early in their
careers, before they achieved
worldwide fame. Others, such
as the Atlanta street musician
in Anderson’s “Mildred’s Prop
erty,” never realized such suc
cess.
Anderson’s 1989 photograph
shows a guitarist, eyes half
closed, sitting in front of run
down duplex with peeling paint
and a torn screen door. The
“Forßent” signabovetheman’s
head could apply to the musi
cian as well as to the building.
A metal railing in front of the
man seems to bar the viewer
from getting too close, and
serves as a metaphor for the
racism and injustice that many
entertainers overcame to
achieve stardom.
Not surprisingly, the path
from obscurity to fame was al
waysin theback of Jones’ mind
as he amassed his collection.
“I was looking for good, solid
material artists whodidn’t have
the breaks that others of com
champion. In spite of being
convincingly hyped as politi
cal “enemies” by two coun
tries on the brink of war, they
overcameit alland recognized
the similarities in their situa
tions, identified with one an
other, and as aresult, forged a
life-time close friendship.
Joe and Max will have its
world premiere o the pay tele
vision movie channel STARZ!
Atßp.m. (ET/PT)onMarch9,
2002.
parable talent had,” he said.
The photographs represent
only a fraction of the 1,000-odd
works in the Jones collection,
which also features paintings
by such well-known artists as
Romare Bearden, Elizabeth
Catlett and Jacob Lawrence,
and otherslike Herman “Kofi”
Bailey, David Driskell and Leo
Twiggs.
“It’s been a labor of love for
me,” said Jones, 73.
dJones started collecting in
the early 19605. His first pur
chases were three small prints
of works by Toulouse-Lautrec,
Degas and Chagall. Very
quickly, however, Jones began
focusing on original works by
black artists who were being
ignored by museums and large
galleries.
“I had to go to their homes
and studios to find out where
the art was,” he said.
As word spread, artists be
gan seeking out Jones, who
jokes that he was “part social
worker, part art collector.”
“They would knock on the
door _ they couldn’t sell any
Audiences go to war as
Mel Gibson’s ‘We Were Soldiers’
leads weekend box office
LOS ANGELES
(AP) Combat commanded
the box office as Mel Gibson’s
“We Were Soldiers,” a patri
otic tale of comrades in arms
duringthe United States’ first
major battle of the Vietham
War, debuted as the top week
end film with $ 20.2 million.
The weekend’s other new
movie, the romantic comedy
“40 Days and 40 Nights,”
opened in second place with $
12.2 million.
The top 20 movies at North
American theaters Friday
through Sunday, followed by
distribution studio, gross,
number of theater locations,
average receipts per location,
total gross and number of
weeks in release, as compiled
Monday by Exhibitor Rela
tions Co. Inc. and ACNielsen
EDI Inc. are:
1. “WeWereSoldiers,” Para
mount, $ 20.2 million, 3,143
locations, $ 6,431 average, $
20.2 million, one week.
2.°4oDays and 40 Nights,”
Miramax, $ 12.2 million, 2,225
locations, $ 5,496 average, $
12.2 million, one week.
3. “John Q,” New Line, $
8.5 million, 2,456 locations, $
3,466 average, $ 51.2 million,
three weeks.
4. “Return to Never Land,”
Disney, $ 6.9 million, 2,618
locations, $ 2,618 average, $
35.7 million, three weeks.
5. “Dragonfly,” Universal,
$ 6.6 million, 2,507 locations,
$ 2,640 average, $ 19.2 mil
lion, two weeks.
6. “Queen of the Damned,”
Warner Bros., $ 5.9 million,
2,511 locations, $ 2,354 aver
March 7, 2002
where else. You’ve got a guy
looking for his next meal or
facing his next rent payment,”
he recalled. “I got to know the
artists, I learned from them. I
didn’t havetoget it from a third
party or an art historian writ
ing about it.”
Jonessaid hehas spent about
s2million over theyearsamass
inghiscollection and estimates
that it’s worth at least twice
that amount. :
HechoseNewark asthehome
for hiscollection after approach
ing several historically black
schools, which, for various rea
sons, were unable or unwilling
toacceptit, accordingtoJones.
University of Delaware offi
cials became aware of the col
lection several years ago when
William Homer, professor
emeritus of art history, met
Jones during a trip to Atlanta.
“He asked me would I con
sider lending to them, and the
rest is history,” Jones said.
Theuniversity plans toreno
vate a building to serve as a
permanent homefor the collec
tion.
age, s23.9million, two weeks.
7. “Big Fat Liar,” Univer
sal, $ 5 million, 2,232 loca
tions, $ 2,221, $ 39 million,
four weeks. :
8. “A Beautiful Mind,” Uni
versal, $§ 4.6 million, 1,962
locations, $ 2,370 average, $
138.9 million, 11 weeks.
9. “Crossroads,” Para
mount, $ 4.1 million, 2,301
locations, $ 1,762 average, $
31.2 million, three weeks.
10. “The Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Ring,”
New Line, $ 3.3 million, 1,303
locations, $ 2,547 average, $
287.6 million, 11 weeks.
11. “The Count of Monte
Cristo,” Disney, $ 2.5 million,
1,228 locations, $ 2,008 aver
age, $ 48 million, six weeks.
12. “Snow Dogs,” Disney, $
2.31 million, 1,802 locations,
$ 1,279 average, $ 75.5 mil
lion, seven weeks.
13. “Black Hawk Down,”
Sony, $ 2.3 million, 1,532 lo
cations, $ 1,505 average, $
104.7 million, 10 weeks.
14. “Super Troopers,” Fox
Searchlight, $ 2.1 million,
1,381 locations, $ 1,546 aver
age, $ 15.8 million, three
weeks. :
15. “Collateral Damage,”
Warner Bros., $ 1.95 million,
1,805 locations, $ 1,078 aver
age, $ 37.6 million, four weeks.
16. “Gosford Park,” USA
Films, $ 1.9 million, 915 loca
tions, $ 2,084 average, $ 31
million, 10 weeks.
17. “Monster’s Ball,” Lions
Gate, $ 1.8 million, 660 loca
tions, $ 2,728 average, $ 13.2
See MOVIES, page 3B