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A woman stands against a tombstone carved with two hands holding a crown.
The Crowning Glory Hairdo
A woman stands against a tombstone carved with two hands holding a crown.
A woman stands against a tombstone carved with two hands holding a crown.
The Crowning Glory Hairdo, Maria von Matthiessen, 1997, sepia-toned print, Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, © 2018 by Malte von Matthiessen.

The Crowning Glory Hairdo

Artist (American, 1944 - 2001)
Date1997
Mediumsepia-toned print
DimensionsSheet: 20 × 16 inches (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Portfolio/Series"The Magical Self: African-American Hairdos in Savannah" series
Credit LineMuseum purchase.
Object number2001.11.30
On View
Not on view
Copyright© 2018 by Malte von Matthiessen. The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextLong a burial place for Savannah’s white elites, Bonaventure became an unlikely setting for photographs celebrating the creativity of African American hairstyles. Maria Von Matthiessen, a white, fine art photographer visiting Savannah, became entranced by the hair of local African American women. Von Matthiessen, whose celebrity portraits appeared in publications such as Life, Town & Country, and Harper’s Bazaar, also completed books such as Songs from the Hills (1993), featuring portraits of country musicians. In Savannah she collaborated with stylist Delores Screen, who created hairdos and coordinated with other stylists to interpret a variety of locations in the city through hair. Among these sites were the Shabazz Restaurant, the Owens-Thomas House slave quarters, and cemeteries including Bonaventure. The Crowning Glory Hairdo, one of two images shot in Bonaventure, shows a model with hair piled in curls on her head in the form of a crown. She is positioned beneath a carved headstone in which two hands are shown descending from the clouds, appearing to place a crown on her head. The model’s eyes are closed, suggesting sleep or death, the solemn mood accentuated by the use of black and white. Von Matthiessen completed the series, called The Magical Self, shortly before her death from breast cancer in January 2001. Her photographs were exhibited at Telfair in June of that year.
Subject MatterBonaventure Cemetery, 330 Bonaventure Road, Thunderbolt, Georgia, United States of America
A woman wearing a crown stands under a low hanging branch populated with small paper stars.
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
The head of a woman in profile wearing a fanned reeded headdress against a backdrop of still wa…
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
A nude woman with a tall column of hair lying in the middle of a dirt road with an infant.
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
A woman in a long white gown with wings stands staring into a corner of an old sparse room.
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
A man wearing a suit standing in profile next to the base of a large tree trunk.
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
A girl in a poufy dress wearing a tall blonde wig adorned with pink flowers stands on a stairca…
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
A woman covered in shrimp lying next to a pier column.
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
Two women in the bottom left corner and a third in the background, all wearing wheat headdresse…
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
A woman with moss covering her head peering between two knotty tree trunks.
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
A woman with a triangular coiffure stands in front of a mural of Jesus Christ holding out a boo…
Maria von Matthiessen
1997
The profile of a woman's head surrounded by berry covered branches.
Maria von Matthiessen
1997