Charles H. Caffin

probably 1915

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows the upper half of a person sitting. The individual is angled towards the camera with their arm resting on the arm of a chair. They have a solemn expression with deep-set eyes, a straight nose, and a firm mouth. The person has short hair styled back and to the side, wearing a textured coat with a high collar, a white shirt, and a tie. One hand is visible, while the other is partially visible at the bottom of the image. There is no visible jewelry. The background includes a paneled wall with part of a framed picture visible behind the person's shoulder, and a vertical border or shadow on the right side of the image.

Media Options

This object’s media is not available for download. Contact us about image usage.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    platinum print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 24.4 x 19.4 cm (9 5/8 x 7 5/8 in.)
    sheet: 25.3 x 20.2 cm (9 15/16 x 7 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.316

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    50E

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    404

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

Curious for more Alfred Stieglitz scholarship?

Discover over 1,000 artworks that the artist’s wife Georgia O’Keeffe termed his “Key Set” of prize photographs. Museum scholars have illuminated each work, his career, practices, and lifetime achievements.

Learn about the Key Set

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. 404.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: Chas. H. Caffin
by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: 50 E

Wikidata ID

Q64034826

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

Born in England and educated at Oxford University, the art critic Charles Caffin immigrated to the United States in 1897. He soon began writing articles on photography in the New York Evening Post and later the New York Sun. His 1901 book Photography as a Fine Art was praised as one of the first serious works on the aesthetics of the medium by an art critic. A regular contributor to Camera Work throughout its entire run (1903–1917), Caffin wrote more articles for the periodical than anyone else.

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:

possibly 1921, New York (no. 41, as Charles H. Caffin, 1911)

You may be interested in

Loading Results