His work as a dance and opera critic for the New York Times brought him into the inner circles of the early 20th Century bohemian world. Before long he became a shaker and a mover in Europe where he hobnobbed with the likes of Mabel Dodge and Gertrude Stein and began capturing everything through a camera lens. Upon return it was Greenwich Village and Provincetown where he ran in circles with the birth of Modern Theatre. He witnessed the 1920s Harlem Renaissance and come the 1930s his portrait photos featured the who's who of the modern entertainment world. He bequeathed much of his life's work to the Library of Congress of which our favorites may be found below.
Van Vechten and Stein were close friends. At the time of time of Stein's death, she made Van Vechten her literary executor.
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