Bessie Smith. Ruth Brown. Little Richard. Jimi Hendrix. These artists, and many other Black pioneers of music and film, set the tone for the generations that followed. Yet when we look at Black artistry across eras and how it fits contextually into history, it’s rarely overstated and often overlooked.
Years ago, memorabilia collector Ralph DeLuca set out to preserve a slice of Black performance history from the 1920s through the 1970s. The pinnacle of that work is Caldonia, an exhibit at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, featuring 44 vintage posters chronicling the concerts and films of some of the greatest Black talents of the 20th century.
Bellagio’s Caldonia exhibit includes such gems as this Cabin in the Sky movie poster.
“It’s an amazing collection that Ralph DeLuca amassed over 20 years and this is only a portion of it,” says Demecina Beehn, curator of special projects and programs for MGM Resorts Art & Culture. “Much of it is actually extremely rare, where there may only be three copies in existence. Some of these posters have never been seen before. It’s this part of history that is starting to disappear.”
Caldonia, a reference to a 1945 love song performed by saxophonist Louis Jordan and written by Black songwriter Fleecie Moore (whose writing would later inspire artists such as Queen and James Brown to incorporate iconic shouts in their music), debuted at Salon 94 in New York City earlier this year. DeLuca went through great lengths to build the collection, tracking down old printers of concert posters, promoters and even their families.
The exhibit features rarities, such as the first mention of rock ’n’ roll in promotional material, one of the only cinematic presentations of Bessie Smith (in the 1929 short film St. Louis Blues) and a glance at the poster for The Emperor Jones, a 1933 film featuring actor Paul Robeson that was privately funded and historically the first to depict a Black man killing a white man on screen.
The work itself is resplendent. In some cases, artists’ faces and words appear as cutouts, planted stylishly along the poster with bold splashes of color, while declarations of “the greatest colored cast ever assembled” leap out above the images. It’s surreal to see phrases like that in 2022, as are the concert posters with Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Martha and the Vandellas all listed on the same bill for a $2 ticket.
Caldonia’s brief introduction to the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a series of nightclubs, juke joints and theaters that commercially supported touring Black performers during segregation, also revealed how many artists such as Aretha Franklin, Big Mama Thornton, Lester Young and James Brown were able to get their starts and make names for themselves. The circuit’s influence on so many legendary musicians goes widely unnoticed today but has been thoughtfully revived by DeLuca’s efforts.
It’s eye-opening to see just how much history is in danger of fading away. But more than 100 performers receive recognition in Caldonia, which is what they’ve always deserved.
“You have comedians, you have musicians, you have big bands, you have actors and actresses. Everything’s coming together to showcase this boom of talent, even in the midst of segregation, in the midst of the deep oppression of African Americans,” Beehn says. “I really want people to take away the contribution of Black creative talent to American society and the weight of that.”
Caldonia: Concert and Film Posters from The Ralph DeLuca Collection Through October 2, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., $18. Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, bellagio.com/bgfa.
Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!
