February 22, 2024

In Celebration of Black History Month, GME Highlights Photographer Hugh Bell and The Kamoinge Workshop

February 22, 2024/ Jon Gartenberg

In 1955, Edward Steichen, then Director of the Photography Department at MoMA, mounted an exhibition of images from around the world as a “manifesto for peace and the fundamental equality of mankind.” That exhibition, titled The Family of Man, quickly became a 20th century cultural phenomenon and was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World register in recognition of its historical value. “Hot Jazz” (pictured here) by Black photographer Hugh Bell (1927—2012) was selected for this ambitious exhibit. This Black History Month, GME highlights Bell’s impressive body of work (namely his suite of images of Jazz Greats from the 1950s) and his influence on the Kamoinge Workshop.

March 07, 2023

Never-Before-Seen Footage Offers Intimate Portrait of Thelonious Monk in Paris Showing at BAM Mar 10-16

March 07, 2023/ Jon Gartenberg

A wealth of never-before-seen footage in offers a gripping and intimate portrait of Thelonious Monk in Paris, 1969. The legendary pianist and composer arrives for a TV interview before his evening concert, where he is met with racist, colonialist acts both large and small.

January 11, 2023

Hugh Bell’s Iconic Photo Hot Jazz (1952) Installed at the Museum of Modern Art

January 11, 2023/ Jon Gartenberg

Hugh Bell’s iconic photograph Hot Jazz (1952) was exhibited in Edward Steichen’s groundbreaking exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, The Family of Man, in 1955. Now, for the first time since then, this photograph is currently installed in MoMA”s Gallery 402, which is dedicated to the theme In and Around Harlem.

November 16, 2022

Recent Raimondo Borea and Hugh Bell Photo Licenses and Exhibition News

November 16, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

GME has licensed two of Raimondo Borea’s unique, behind the scenes photos of Dave Garroway, the original host and Anchor of NBC’s TODAY for an upcoming Bear Manor Media book by Jodie Peeler, and 3 iconic jazz photographs by Hugh Bell of Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday for the new edition of 'ReFraming: REFLECTIONS IN BLACK,' Deborah Willis updating of her 2000 groundbreaking pictorial collection of African American life.

September 08, 2022

Hugh Bell Photos Chosen for A Picture Gallery of the Soul Exhibition at The Katherine E. Nash Gallery

September 08, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

The University of Minnesota gallery will present two photos by Hugh Bell in their upcoming fall exhibition, a group exhibition of over 100 Black American artists whose work incorporates the photographic medium.

October 11, 2021

Announcing Updated Clip and Photo Licensing Section of GME’s Website, Highlighting Our Work with Todd Haynes’ THE VELVET UNDERGROUND Film

October 11, 2021/ Jon Gartenberg

GME provided scenes from Gideon Bachmann’s UNDERGROUND NEW YORK (1968), Peter Emmanuel Goldman's ECHOES OF SILENCE (1964), Jonas Mekas’ AWARD PRESENTATION TO ANDY WARHOL (1964), SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ANDY WARHOL (1963-1990), and WALDEN: DIARIES, NOTES, AND SKETCHES (1969), and Warren Sonbert’s AMPHETAMINE (1966) to Todd Haynes and Swish Productions for upcoming Film Forum release and Apple TV+ broadcast of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND.

September 23, 2020

GME Notes with Sadness the Recent Passing of Stanley Crouch

September 23, 2020/ Jon Gartenberg

A prolific author, essayist, columnist and social critic, Crouch challenged conventional thinking on race and helped found Jazz at Lincoln Center. He proclaimed himself a “radical pragmatist,” defining it this way:

“I affirm whatever I think has the best chance of working, of being both inspirational and unsentimental, of reasoning across the categories of false division and beyond the decoy of race.”

June 16, 2020

Iconic Sarah Vaughan Photo by Hugh Bell to be Included in Forthcoming Exhibition at the University of Minnesota Katherine E. Nash Gallery

June 16, 2020/ Jon Gartenberg

Over the past several years, Gartenberg Media Enterprises (GME) has worked diligently to further the legacy of talented African-American artist Hugh Bell, whose photography career began in the early 1950s. We are pleased to announce that the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the Department of Art, University of Minnesota, will feature Hugh Bell’s work in their forthcoming exhibition projected for September of 2021, entitled “ A Picture Gallery of the Soul,” which will celebrate the work of African American photographers. The gallery, situated on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, also promotes art as a means to address the issues of social justice, especially relevant because of the murder of George Floyd in that city.

February 27, 2020

National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Hugh Bell Photographs

February 27, 2020/ Jon Gartenberg

As Black History Month draws to a close, Gartenberg Media Enterprises (GME) is pleased to announce that the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has acquired six lifetime silver gelatin prints from the Hugh Bell archive for their permanent collection. Says GME Fine Arts Curator David Deitch, “In preserving the legacy of an artist, there is nothing more gratifying than the prestige that comes from a museum acquiring his work. We are especially pleased that NMAAHC, the premiere international institution dedicated to the history, culture and artistic achievements of the African American community, recognizes the significance of Hugh Bell ‘s photographs within this context.”