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Call number
*MGZEB 16-244
Physical description
.42 linear feet (1 box)
Preferred Citation

George Platt Lynes/Jack Woody Photographs, *MGZEB 16-244. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

The George Platt Lynes/ Jack Woody Photographs consist of approximately 115 original gelatin silver 8" x 10" black and white prints of ballet notables by George Platt Lynes for three publications written and/or published by Jack Woody.

Biographical/historical information

Photographer George Platt Lynes was born in East Orange, New Jersey in 1907. He attended the Berkshire School in Massachusetts, where Lincoln Kirstein was a classmate. Lynes set up his studio in New York City circa 1932 and began taking photos for fashion magazines. In approximately 1934, he was commissioned to photograph the dances and dancers of the American Ballet (later New York City Ballet) which he did through 1955. Lynes died in New York City in 1955 of lung cancer at the age of 48.

Scope and arrangement

The George Platt Lynes/Jack Woody Photographs consist of approximately 115 original gelatin silver 8" x 10" black and white prints of ballet notables by George Platt Lynes for three publications written and/or published by Jack Woody: George Platt Lynes, Photographs 1931-1955 (Twelvetrees Press, 1983), Ballet: Photographs by George Platt Lynes (Twelvetrees Press, 1985), and Portrait : the Photographs of George Platt Lynes, 1927-1955 (Twin Palms, 1994).

The photographs depict the dancers and repertoire of Ballet Caravan, Ballet Society, Ballet Theatre, and later New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, from approximately 1934 to 1955. Many folders contain a single photograph, although there are a number of photographs for Billy the Kid, Illuminations, Ralph McWilliams, Francisco Moncion, Orpheus and Eurydice, and La Valse.

Arrangement

Alphabetical

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Jack Woody, 2015.

Processing information

Compiled by cdee, November 2016.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Dance Division at dance@nypl.org.