Ma

1915/1917

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows an elderly woman in a close-up, capturing her features from the shoulders up. She is in a three-quarter profile, facing slightly away from the camera. Her facial features include fine lines, with gray hair pulled back, possibly in a bun. She wears a dark garment wrapped around her shoulders. The background is softly blurred with light tones and bokeh.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    platinum print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 24.5 x 19.5 cm (9 5/8 x 7 11/16 in.)
    sheet: 25 x 20.2 cm (9 13/16 x 7 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.348

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    52B

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more
  • Key Set Number

    413

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. 413.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: Exhibition / 1921 / Ma —
by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: 52 B

Wikidata ID

Q64034860

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Stieglitz Collections

A corresponding print was given to the following institution(s) by Alfred Stieglitz during his lifetime, or was received or acquired from the estate:

The Art Institute of Chicago, 1949.714 (inscribed: Ma)

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, YCAL MSS 85, box 123, folder 2464

Other Collections

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

Bill Schubart

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2007.604

Private collection

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:

1921, New York (no. 63, as My Mother, 1914)


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