Excavating—New York

1911

Alfred Stieglitz (editor/publisher) after Various Artists

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

This is a photograph of a construction or excavation scene involving horses and machinery. The description of the image reveals horses harnessed together in the foreground, pulling a wooden cart. There is dirt and debris on the ground. An excavator or crane can be seen in the background, along with a smoke stack emitting smoke. The horses are aligned in pairs, harnessed to the cart, likely transporting materials. Structures such as buildings are visible in the background, suggesting an early 20th-century setting that combines animal labor with industrial machinery.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    photogravure

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 12.7 × 15.8 cm (5 × 6 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.1278.38

  • Copyright

    Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

  • Key Set Number

    353

Associated Artworks

See all 16 artworks

Camera Work: Vol.9: Numbers 33, 34/35, 36

Alfred Stieglitz

1911

City of Ambition

Alfred Stieglitz

1910

The image shows a riverside area with a stack of cut logs in the foreground. A railing from a structure is visible on the left. In the background, there is a cityscape silhouette with buildings. A steamship is seen moving across the water with billowing white smoke. The image is characterized by a soft-focus effect, giving it a dream-like quality. The color palette is predominantly soft sepia tones.

The City across the River

Alfred Stieglitz

1910

The image shows a man leaning his head on his hand, positioned with his face resting on his left hand. He has a mustache, thin-framed eyeglasses, and thick, greying hair that curls slightly at the edges. He is dressed in a formal jacket, a white shirt, and a black bow tie. The background is a soft, dark blur.

Alfred Stieglitz

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Georgia O'Keeffe; gift to NGA, 1949.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1992

  • Stieglitz in the Darkroom, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, October 4, 1992–February 14, 1993

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 353.

Wikidata ID

Q64037825

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Lifetime Exhibitions

A print from the same negative—perhaps a photograph from the Gallery’s collection—appeared in the following exhibition(s) during Alfred Stieglitz’s lifetime:

probably 1913, New York (no. 29, as Diggers, New York, 1910)
1937, New York, MoMA (no. 339, as Excavating, New York, 1911, photogravure from Camera Work)

Lifetime Publications

A reproduction of this work appeared in the following publication(s) during Alfred Stieglitz’s lifetime:

Camera Work 36 (October 1911): pl. 10 (ill., Excavating—New York, 1910)

Note

Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

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