[Photograph] In 1926 Langston Hughes became a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance with the appearance of The Weary Blues, a volume of verse. Critics sometimes faulted him for dwelling on negative aspects of the African American experience.

But in much of Hughes' work, there is an optimism rising above unpleasant realities: "I am the darker brother, / They send me to eat in the Kitchen / When company comes. / But I laugh . . . and grow strong."

This photograph was the work of Carl Van Vechten, who was among the first members of the white literary establishment to recognize the cultural importance of the Harlem Renaissance.

Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery

Photograph of Langston Hughes (1902-67), 1939, by Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964), 1983 photogravure from 1939 negative

(c) Eakins Press Foundation

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