Photography collections

HERMAN LEONARD PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION, 1948-1991, #445

By Scott Schwartz and David Jellema, 1993 and revised 1995, revised again in 2000 by Nuria Ballester and 2003 by Timothy Anne Burnside.

Biography

Herman Leonard (1923- ) was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and served as a military photographer in Burma during World War II. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in photography from Ohio University and began working with Yousef Karsh, a Canadian portraitist. Settling in New York in 1949, Leonard began photographing jazz musicians at various jazz clubs on Broadway and Fifty Second Streets, and in Harlem for such publications as Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Life, Look, Playboy, and Time. He later moved to Paris to begin a fashion and advertising business. He also continued photographing jazz musicians. In 1988 Leonard presented his first exhibition, "Images of Jazz," in London. This show established his reputation as a leading photographer of jazz musicians and sparked further shows and publications.

Scope and Content

The Herman Leonard Photographic Collection consists of eighty-four black and white photographic prints depicting musicians performing at various American and European jazz clubs between 1948 and 1991. The collection contains mounted and un-mounted 11xl4 and 16x2O prints that were made by Leonard. Among the many artists included among these photographs are Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Lester Young, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Thelonius Monk. The photographs are organized into two groups, 11x14prints and 16x21 prints and then are arranged alphabetically by performer’s last name within each of these groupings. Unmated 16x20 prints can be found in box 2 but are listed alphabetically by performer.

NOTE: The Archives Center does not own the rights to the Leonard photographs. All requests for permission to use these photographs for non-museum purposes must be addressed directly to Herman Leonard at (504)286-2444.

Provenance

The Herman Leonard Photographic Collection was donated to the National Museum of American History by Mr. Leonard on December 17, 1991.

Container List

Series 1: 11x14 Prints

Box	Folder
1	1	Armstrong, Louis; Backstage of Olympia Theatre, Paris, 1960.
	2	Baker, Chet; Leonard's Studio Rooftop, New York City, 1949.
	3	Brown, Clifford; Birdland, New York City, 1954.
	4	Davis, Miles; Montreaux, Switzerland, July 1991.
	5	Eldridge, Roy; Recording Studio, New York City, 1952.
	6	Ellington, Duke; Olympia Theatre, Paris, 1958.
	7	Ellington, Duke, (Shoes); Olympia Theatre, Paris, 1958.
	On exhibit	Ellington, Duke; Paris, 1960
	8	Fitzgerald, Ella; Downbeat Club, New York City, 1949.
	9	Garner, Erroll; Bop City Club, New York City, 1953.
	10	Getz, Stan; RCA Recording Studio, New York City, 1949.
	11	Gillespie, Dizzy; Royal Roost, New York City, 1948.
	12	Gordon, Dexter; Royal Roost, New York City, 1948.
	13	Hodges, Johnny; Brasserie Lip, Paris, 1958.
	14	Holiday, Billie; New York City, 1949.
	15	Holiday, Billie; Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, California, 1953.
	16	Holiday, Billie; Recording Studio, New York City, 1955.
	17	Jones, Quincy; Recording Studio, New York City,1955.
	18	Kenton, Stan; Rehearsal, Big Band, Atlanta, Georgia, 1950.
	19	Monk, Thelonius; Minton's Playhouse, Harlem, New York City, 1949.
	20	Mulligan, Gerry and Zoot Sims; Mercury Recording Studio, New York City, 1955.
	21	Navarro, Fats; Birdland, New York City, 1948.
	22	Parker, Charlie and Dizzy Gillespie; Recording Studio, New York City, 1949.
	23	Parker, Charlie; Birdland, New York City, 1949.
	24	Parker, Charlie with the Metronome All Stars; RCA Victor Recording Studio, New York City, 1949.
	25	Pettiford, Oscar; Recording Studio, New York City,1950.
	26	Powell, Bud; Birdland, New York City, 1949.
	27	Rich, Buddy; Recording Studio, New York City, 1954.
	28	Roach, Max; Recording Studio, New York City, 1950.
	29	Sinatra, Frank; Recording Studio, New York City, 1956.
	30	Sinatra, Frank; Recording Studio, New York City, 1956.
	On exhibit	Strayhorn, Billy; Paris, 1960
	31	Vaughan, Sarah; Recording Studio, New York City,1950.
	32	Young, Lester; Birdland, New York City, 1949.
	33	Young, Lester; Recording Studio, Paris, 1958.
	34	Young, Lester; Recording Studio, Paris, 1958.
	35	Young, Lester (Hat); Recording Studio, New York City, 1948.

Series 2: 16x20 Prints

Box	Folder
3	1	Adderly, Cannonball; New York City, 1956.
	2	Armstrong, Louis; Birdland, New York City, 1956.
2	1	Armstrong, Louis; Paris, 1960.
3	3	Baker, Chet; New York City, 1956.
2	2	Basie, Count; Newport, 1955.
	3	Blakey, Art; Paris, 1958.
3	4	Brown, Clifford; Studio, New York City, 1954.
	5	Brown, Ray; New York City, 1948.
	On exhibit	Carroll, Diane, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong; on the set of Paris Blues, Paris, 1960.
4	1	Clark, Kenny; Royal Roost, 1948
2	4	Davis, Miles; Peray, Heath and Mullington, Gerry; Newport, 1955.
4	2	Davis, Miles; London, 1989.
2	5	Davis, Miles; Montreaux, Switzerland, 1991.[unmounted]
4	3	Ellington, Duke; Paris, 1958.
	4	Ellington, Duke (shoes); Paris, 1958.
	5	Ellington, Duke; Carnegie Hall, 1960.
	On exhibit	Ellington, Duke; on the set of Paris Blue, Paris, 1960.
	On exhibit	Fitzgerald, Ella; Downbeat Club, New York City, 1949.
5	1	Garner, Erroll; Bop City Club, New York City, 1953.
5	2	Getz, Stan; New York City, 1949.
2	6	Gillespie, Dizzy; Royal Roost, New York City, 1948.
5	3	Gillespie, Dizzy and Charlie Parker; New York City, 1948.
	4	Gordon, Dexter; Royal Roost, New York City, 1948.
	5	Hodges, Johnny; Paris, 1958.
6	1	Holiday, Billie; Hollywood, 1953.
2	7	Holiday, Billie; New York City, 1949.
6	2	Holiday, Billie; New York City, 1955.
2	8	Monk, Thelonius; Minton's Playhouse, Harlem, New York, 1949.
6	3	Moody, James; New York City, 1951.
	4	Mulligan, Gerry; Newport, 1958.
	5	Navarro, Fats; Royal Roost, New York City, 1948.
7	1	Parker, Charlie; Royal Roost, New York City, 1948.
7	2	Parker, Charlie; Birdland, New York City, 1949.
	3	Parker, Charlie; Metronome All Stars (Eddie Szafranski, Billy Bauer, and Lennie Tristano), 1949 .
	4	Parker, Charlie; Metronome All Stars, 1949.
2	9	Pettiford, Oscar; New York City, 1950.
8	1	Powell, Bud; Birdland, New York City, 1949.
7	5	Roach, Max and Clifford Brown; Birdland, New York City, 1954.
8	2	Sinatra, Frank; New York City, 1956.
	3	Sinatra, Frank; Monte Carlo, 1958.
	4	Stitt, Sonny; New York City, 1953.
	5	Tatum, Art; Los Angeles, 1955.
2	10	Vaughan, Sarah; New York City, 1950.
9	1	Washington, Dinah; New York City, 1955.
	On exhibit	Webster, Ben; backstage at Birdland, New York, 1950.
9	2	Young, Lester; Paris, 1960.
	3	Young, Lester; New York City, 1948.

TOP