Anton BRUEHL
Australia 1900 – United States of America 1982
United States from 1919

not titled [Drummer] c.1934
gelatin silver photograph
Recto, matt, signed in pencil, lower right, 'Anton Bruehl'.
image 42.9 (h) x 35.6 (w) cm
Gift of American Friends of the National Gallery of Australia, Inc., New York, NY, USA, made possible with the generous support of Anton Bruehl Jr, 2006.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
NGA 2006.155

Bruehl found props for his CBS Broadcasting System advertisement at the Museum of Natural History in New York. In typical Bruehl style though, he set up the shot up in his studio on Lexington Avenue. The trend for experiencing the exoticism of other cultures was strong in the United States in the 1930s – reflected in the popularity of stars like Carmen Miranda, Dolores del Rio, Ramon Navarro amongst others – and Bruehl was quick to follow up on this craze. His images are full of exotic figures, here a ‘tribal’ drummer from Africa, but elsewhere performers from across the world. It was also a time when many African-American figures were becoming household names and musicals such as Porgy and Bess and Hot Mikado were featuring all African-American casts for the first time.