Album of Gems, Introduced by Williams and Walker and Their Own Big Company

Object Details

Artist

Unidentified Artist

Publisher

Hurtig & Seamon

Sitter

George Walker, 1873 - 8 Jan 1911

Bert Williams, 12 Nov 1874 - 4 Mar 1922

Exhibition Label

This sheet music cover features portraits of renowned vaudeville performers George Walker (lower left) and Bert Williams (upper right) and scenes of, among other things, the actors teaching their famous “cake walk” to William Vanderbilt. The Policy Players was their 1899 production that garnered glowing reviews and stories of audiences laughing in “uproars.”

Walker and Williams reclaimed material from white minstrelsy performers who “blacked up” to racially derogate African Americans. Walker was the straight man and petty tyrant of the hapless and put-upon Williams. The gaiety of this cover featuring flowers, ribbons, and levity, however, belies the darkly racist and contradictory conditions the entertainers endured as pioneers in professionalizing black theater—as “blacks in blackface.” W.C. Fields, another vaudeville actor, once commented, Williams was “the funniest man I ever saw—and the saddest man I ever knew.”

En esta portada de unas partituras musicales figuran retratos de los celebrados artistas de vodevil George Walker (abajo a la izquierda) y Bert Williams (arriba a la derecha) y, entre otras, escenas de los actores enseñándole su famoso baile “cake walk” a William Vanderbilt. Su producción de 1899, The Policy Players, recibió críticas muy elogiosas y mantuvo al público riéndose a carcajadas.

Walker y Williams reutilizaban material de artistas ambulantes blancos (minstrels) que se presentaban pintados de negro mofándose de los afroamericanos. Walker era el hombre serio del acto, que tiranizaba al infeliz y explotado Williams. El tono alegre de esta portada con flores, cintas y humor contrasta con las condiciones racistas y contradictorias que estos artistas sufrieron como pioneros del teatro negro profesional —como “negros pintados de negro”—. W.C. Fields, otro actor de vodevil, comentó que Williams era “el artista más cómico que he visto, y el hombre más triste que he conocido”.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

1899

Object number

NPG.2016.118

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

Print

Medium

Chromolithograph on paper

Dimensions

Sheet: 35 × 26.4cm (13 3/4 × 10 3/8")

Mat: 55.9 × 40.6 cm (22 × 16")

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Alternate Title

Bert Williams and George Walker

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie

Bert Williams: Male

Bert Williams: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor

Bert Williams: Performing Arts\Performer\Comedian

Bert Williams: Performing Arts\Performer\Comedian

Bert Williams: Performing Arts\Performer\Vaudeville

George Walker: Male

George Walker: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor

George Walker: Performing Arts\Performer\Comedian

George Walker: Performing Arts\Performer\Vaudeville

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2016.118

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4ffad3350-244e-4dbc-8bb7-596e58074409