"Caldonia" at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art
The latest exhibition at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is Caldonia: Concert and Film Posters from The Ralph DeLuca Collection, which consists of 44 vintage advertising posters for films and performances that featured African American actors and musicians dating back to the 1920's up to the 1970's. Grammy Hall of Fame singer Aretha Franklin is featured in the collection along with "The King of Soul" Otis Redding and the great American jazz composer and pianist Thelonius Monk.
Serubiri Moses and the rest of those involved with this collection curated and named Caldonia: Concert and Film Posters from The Ralph DeLuca Collection with the intention to bring to light the many great African American performers and artists that shaped the foundations of the music and film industries we enjoy today. The historical context adds to the value of the collection as a whole.
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The owner of the collection Ralph DeLuca spent over two decades searching for and assembling the collection of vintage posters. DeLuca sifted through, he recalls, "thousands of in-person and online auctions and flea markets." He also placed ads all across America in search of each addition to the collection.
Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art "Caldonia: Concert and Film Posters from The Ralph DeLuca Collection"
"[For] the music posters, [I tracked] down old printers who pressed the posters as well as the concert promoters and their families. My goal was to build one of the most important collections of pre-1970 Black music and film posters," DeLuca says. The efforts were great but well worth the outcome of placing the collection in the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art.
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The curator of Special Projects and Programs for MGM Resorts Art & Culture Demecina Beehn mentions, “Caldonia is a celebration of the extraordinary talent of African American pioneers of 20th Century music and film. These performers and actors persevered through the dangerous times of segregation to showcase their innovative sound, dance and acting."
The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is located in the center of Bellagio Resort & Casino. Caldonia: Concert and Film Posters from The Ralph DeLuca Collection remains on display through October 2.
Photography by: Courtesy of Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art
