Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald) was remarkable in many of her own ways: as a dancer, she was among the most renowned performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris; as an actress, she was the first African-American to star in a major motion picture. Baker’s costume, including a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became a symbol of the Jazz Age. She was greatly admired by many artists and intellectuals of the era, with Ernest Hemingway calling her “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw,” while Pablo Picasso drawing paintings depicting her alluring beauty. In 1937, after her third marriage, she renounced her U.S. citizenship and became a French national.
Here are 27 beautiful vintage photographs capture the icon in the 1920s and 1930s:
Josephine Baker in La Coupole restaurant, circa 1920. Photo by Keystone-France.
Josephine Baker has harnessed an ostrich to pull a racing sulky, circa 1920. Photo by General Photographic Agency.
Jospehine Baker lounging on a tiger skin, posing in a studio around the time of her first sensation La REVUE NEGRE, circa 1925. Photo by Keystone-France.
Josephine Baker wearing a satin outfit with fur trim, Hamburg, 1925. Photo by Estate of Emil Bieber/Klaus Niermann.
A studio portrait of Josephine Baker in top hat, white tie and tails in Paris, circa 1925. Photo by Paul Popper/Popperfoto.
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