Before the Smithy's

1890, printed 1895/1896

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

This is an image of a blacksmith workshop. It shows a scene in front of a rustic building with textured stonework and arched doorways. There is a blacksmith’s anvil in the center, along with tools and a vice on a wooden bench. The entrance has an intricately carved arch. To the right, there’s a cart wheel, and sunlight casts shadows across the cobblestone. The setting conveys a sense of historical craftsmanship and rural life, with deep contrast and details in the photograph bringing out the texture of the building and ground.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    platinum print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 14.5 × 19 cm (5 11/16 × 7 1/2 in.)
    page size: 27.2 × 34.4 cm (10 11/16 × 13 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.60

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    76D

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    68

Associated Artworks

See all 34 artworks
This is a photograph of two oxen yoked together in a field. The image depicts two oxen standing side by side in a field with a dirt-covered ground. The oxen are fitted with harnesses and a yoke. The background shows a distant horizon. The photo is in a grainy sepia tone.

An Idyll

Alfred Stieglitz

1887

The image shows a body of water with mountains in the distance. The point of view is elevated, capturing the shoreline and the water. A person leans towards a cow, holding its halter by the rocky shore. The horizon is high in the image, with the mountains forming a dark outline against the sky. The mountains appear as a soft silhouette due to the diffuse lighting. The image has a grainy and vintage texture. The color palette is monochromatic, with shades of gray and sepia. A small boat with figures is on the water, and a larger vessel is docked to the right.

The Unwilling Bath

Alfred Stieglitz

1887

This is a photograph of a group of horses hitched to a cart on a street. The scene depicts four horses, two of which are prominently visible in the foreground, standing harnessed to a cart facing towards the right side of the image. The setting is a cobblestone street lined with buildings, one of which is clearly visible on the right side of the image, featuring multiple windows and a sign hanging above its entrance. The light indicates a bright day, casting shadows of the horses and the cart onto the ground. A tree is visible in the background. The overall tone is sepia. The image captures a moment when horse-drawn carts were a common means of transportation.

Before the Tavern

Alfred Stieglitz

1890

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

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 68.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on interleaving tissue, upper right, in graphite: Before the Smithy's / 1890

Wikidata ID

Q64037637

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

Stieglitz submitted this image to The Amateur Photographer’s “Travelling Studentship Competition” as The Village Black. The journal notes: “all the negatives are un-retouched, and no cloud negatives are used. They have been taken with a Steinheil Aplanat. The plates used include Obernetter, Eosine, Schlenssn, Perulz (eosine), and Lumière. The developers have been pyro and soda and iron, and the whole of the prints have been produced in platinotype” (The Amateur Photographer 12 [18 July 1890], 41).

Other Collections

A print corresponding with this photograph can also be found in the following collection(s):

Hochschulbibliothek, Hochschule der Künst, Berlin

Wm. B. Becker Collection [lantern slide]

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:

1891, Hartford (no. 81, as Before the Smithy’s (The Tyrol))
1891, Vienna (no. 492, as Vor der Schmiede)
1891, New York, Fourth Annual Joint Exhibition (no. 318, as Before the Smithy’s)
1891, New York (no. 234, as Before the Smithy’s)
1892, New York, The Society of Amateur Photographers of New York (as Before the Smithy's, lantern slide)
1892, Boston (no. 322, as The Village Smithy)
1893, New York (no. 241, as The Smithy’s)
1893, Philadelphia (no. 520, as Before the Village Smithy)

Lifetime Publications

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

“Some Examples of the Work of Alfred Stieglitz, Amateur Photographer,” Frank Leslie’s Weekly 74 (3 March 1892): 76 (ill., The Village Smithy)

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