- unitid
-
{"value"=>"185586", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"*MGZEB 21-0016", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b226262674", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1960-1976", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1960/1976"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Joan Baum photographs"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"19 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"7.92 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Jerome Robbins Dance Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Joan Baum was a librarian and amateur photographer. Baum's work was focused on creating and collecting a visual index of contemporary Western ballet and opera of the 1960s and 1970s. The collection includes her original photographs, slides, and negatives, as well as prints ordered from other professional dance photographers (including Fred Fehl and Martha Swope) and official portraits requested from ballet companies."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Baum, Joan", "type"=>"persname", "role"=>"cre"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Joan Baum was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1931. After graduating from Barnard College in 1952, she traveled to Italy for two months. During this time, and throughout the 1950s, Baum began collecting photographs of ballet performances from professional photographers and directly from ballet companies. Baum created scrapbooks of these collections, initially focusing on the career of ballet dancer Erik Bruhn and later Rudolf (Rudi) Nureyev.</p> <p>In the Summer of 1960, Baum traveled aboard the <span class=\"title\">Queen Frederica</span> cruise ship to Palermo, Italy and traveled through the Mediterranean, and eventually ending up in London. It was on this trip to London that Baum began attending and documenting ballet performances herself. Often shooting from her seat in the theatre, Baum's photographs offer a unique perspective of the typical visuals an audience member would experience at the ballet.</p> <p>Since 1963, Baum was the assistant librarian for the Bronx Community College. The bulk of this collection was created during this time, combining Baum's original photographs as well as continuing to solicit images from prominent dance photographers, including Fred Fehl and Martha Swope.</p> <p>Baum was initially very interested in the careers of Danish dancer Erik Bruhn and Soviet-born Rudolf Nureyev, but in the 1970s, Baum mostly photographed dancer Michaël Denard and, subsequently, his partners Cynthia Gregory and Carla Fracci.</p> <p>Baum continued to travel and photograph ballet until the mid-1970s, passing away in the summer of 1976. That year her colleagues and friends at the Bronx Community College donated her collection to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>This collection of photographs documents the contemporary ballet scene of the late 1950s until 1975. Baum photographed ballet locally in New York City and traveled extensively around the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom to photograph the larger community of ballet.</p> <p>The slides and negatives are all original work by Baum and arranged chronologically. Prints maintained the loose categorizations established by Baum, primarily divided by the individual dancer or company and include photographs both by and collected by Baum. Most prints by Baum are not identified but can be correlated with a slide or negative in the collection. Photographs arranged in scrapbooks have been removed but retain their original order.</p> <p>Much of Baum's work in New York City was focused on the American Ballet Theatre and their productions and any international ballet company on tour, especially the Bolshoi and the Danish Ballet. Baum was particularly interested in documenting ballet dancers Erik Bruhn, Michaël Denard, Carla Fracci, Cynthia Gregory and Rudolf Nureyev. Common performances covered by Baum during this time include <span class=\"title\">Giselle</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Nutcracker</span>, <span class=\"title\">La Sylphide</span> and several <span class=\"title\">Pas a Deux</span> pieces from various ballets.</p> <p>Though most photographs are primarily of dance, there is some documentation of opera, mainly performances by the tenor, Franco Corelli. Some personal and travel pictures are scattered within slides and negatives. Baum's trips through Europe in 1953 and 1960 resulted in extensive tourist photographs including Palermo, Greece, Barcelona, Portugal, and Lisbon. Baum's 1963 trip to Mexico City includes several photographs of bullfights and slides Baum identified as \"Mexican folk dances.\"</p> <p>Many individual slides identify the performance or dancer.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The received arrangement did not distinguish between Baum's photographs and prints collected from other photographers. To maintain the autonomy of Baum's photography, the collection has been organized by medium: prints, slides, and negatives.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift by Joan Baum's Friends at Bronx Community College, care of Juliann Skurdenis in 1976.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Emily P. Dunne in 2021.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1960
- keydate
-
1960
- date_end
-
1976
- date_inclusive_start
-
1960
- date_inclusive_end
-
1976
- extent_statement
-
7.92 linear feet (19 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Joan Baum photographs, *MGZEB 21-0016. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}