The Blizzard, New York

1893, printed 1929/1932

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows an urban scene in winter, with snow covering the ground. The horizon is obscured by mist, giving a hazy, distant quality to the scene. Buildings fade into the fog. A horse-drawn carriage moves down the snow-covered street, slightly right of center. On the right, a street lamp is visible, and a person walks beside a railing further along. Buildings on both sides of the street recede into the mist. The scene is monochromatic in shades of grey and white, with occasional darker contrasts from the carriage and figures.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 8.6 x 10.2 cm (3 3/8 x 4 in.)
    mount: 31.5 x 24.9 cm (12 3/8 x 9 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.89

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    129B

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    88

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

1958

  • Photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, March 16–April 27, 1958

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 88.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, upper center verso, in graphite: The Blizzard, N.Y. / 1893
by later hand, on mount, lower right verso, in graphite: 015; upper left verso, in square: 1; lower left verso, circled: 4; upper right verso, in red pencil, circled: D

Wikidata ID

Q64034679

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:

possibly 1932, New York (no. 39, as Fifth Ave.—Winter, 1894)

Lifetime Publications

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

John Corbin, “The Twentieth Century City,” Scribner’s Magazine 33:3 (March 1903): 262 (ill., Fifth Avenue, During a Blizzard)

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