Original oversize photograph of Billie Holiday in 1949, inscribed by photographer Herman Leonard

N.p. N.p., 1949. Vintage oversize satin-finish black-and-white photograph of Billie Holiday performing in New York City in 1949. INSCRIBED by photographer Herman Leonard on the verso: "To Joseph / Above all, enjoy the music! / With best wishes / Herman Leonard / March 2002."

Herman Leonard received a BFA in photography from Ohio University in 1947, and opened his first studio a year later, in Greenwich Village. He worked as a freelance commercial photographer by day, and spent his nights at the Royal Roost and Birdland, photographing jazz icons such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gilespie, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and of course Billie Holiday. His photographs from this period, which are now archived at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, represent a valuable and unique record of the jazz scene of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

11 x 14 inches. Fine.

[Book #151496]