Italian Mason, Bellagio

1887, printed 1895/1896

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows a man from the waist up, sitting with his body turned to his left side while his head faces slightly to his right. He has a mustache and a prominent nose, with a slightly weathered face, and his hair is mostly hidden by the hat he is wearing. The man is wearing a light-colored hat with a wide brim, a light shirt with an upright collar, and a button-up jacket over it. His trousers appear worn, and his hands are resting on his lap, fingers gently clasped together. The setting is simple and rustic, with a textured stone wall behind him and a small square opening above his left shoulder.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    platinum print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 17.3 x 9.5 cm (6 13/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
    page size: 34.8 x 27.2 cm (13 11/16 x 10 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.34

  • Volume Title

    Sun Prints, 2

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    69E

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    38

Associated Artworks

See all 35 artworks
The image shows a woman standing in a grassy field with one hand on her forehead and holding a rake in the other hand. She is wearing a long-sleeved blouse, a long skirt, and an apron tied around her waist. She has a solemn expression on her face and her hair is pulled back. The background includes rolling hills, trees, and a path leading off into the distance. No jewelry or additional objects can be seen.

The Harvest, Mittenwald

Alfred Stieglitz

1886

The image depicts two individuals: a woman and a child. The woman is standing in a doorway with one hand on the door frame, wearing a long light-colored dress with long sleeves and a braided hairstyle. The child, barefoot and wearing high socks, short pants with suspenders, a light shirt, a jacket, and a brimmed hat, stands beside her leaning against the door frame. A wooden structure resembling a barrel on a stand is on the right, with a plain wall forming the backdrop.

The Truant, Mittenwald

Alfred Stieglitz

1886

Professor Vogel

Alfred Stieglitz

1886

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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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.

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Georgia O'Keeffe; gift to NGA, 1949.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1983

  • Photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, February 3–May 8, 1983; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, June 17–August 14, 1983; The Art Institute of Chicago, October 18, 1983–January 3, 1984

Bibliography

1983

  • Greenough, Sarah, and Juan Hamilton. Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings. Washington, 1983: no. 2, pl. 5.

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 38.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on interleaving tissue, lower right, in graphite: Italian Mason, / (Bellagio, 1887).

Wikidata ID

Q64037687

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:

1891, New York (no. 242, as Portrait of an Italian Laborer)

Lifetime Publications

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

The American Amateur Photographer 7:7 (July 1895): 311 (ill., untitled)

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