BAKER, JOSEPHINE AU BAL NEGRE ORIGINAL POSTER (THE BLACK BALL-1927)

HISTORY:  Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald, naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent and civil rights activist. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted France. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant. During her early career, Baker was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance in the revue Un vent de folie in 1927 caused a sensation in the city. Her costume, consisting of only a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image and a symbol both of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties. Baker was celebrated by artists and intellectuals of the era, who variously dubbed her the "Black Venus", the "Black Pearl", the "Bronze Venus", and the "Creole Goddess". Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she renounced her U.S. citizenship and became a French national after her marriage to French industrialist Jean Lion in 1937. She raised her children in France. She aided the French Resistance during World War II. After the war, she was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation, the Croix de guerre by the French military, and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle.[4] Baker sang: "I have two loves, my country and Paris." Baker refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States and is noted for her contributions to the civil rights movement. In 1968, she was offered unofficial leadership in the movement in the United States by Coretta Scott King, following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. After thinking it over, Baker declined the offer out of concern for the welfare of her children.[third-party source needed] On 23 August 2021, it was announced that in November 2021 she would be interred in the Panthéon in Paris, the first black woman to receive one of the highest honors in France. Offered here is is an original 1927 poster of Josephine Baker in Au Bal Negre (The Black Ball).

FULL DESCRIPTION: This is an original, paper, poster featuring Josephine Baker in Au Bal Negre (The Black Ball) dated February 12, 1927. In French. Produced by Caron as noted in top right corner. Poster manufactured by M. Ducelier Imp of Paris in 1927 as noted in lower right corner. Poster has been professionally linen backed. Bold, clear image and bold color and print. Not creased or torn. Very slight restoration at the edges. Clean with no staining. 25 1/2" x 31 1/2." Exceedingly rare poster, especially in this fine condition.