Provenance

Georgia O'Keeffe; gift to NGA, 1949.

Associated Names

Bibliography

2002

Wikidata ID

Q64034736

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

Asserting that this photograph was his “favorite picture,” Stieglitz wrote in 1899 that it “brings before my mind’s eye the endless poetry of a most picturesque and fascinating lot of people, the Dutch fisher folk. What artistic temperament does not delight in studying them and portraying them either in art or literature! ‘Mending Nets’ was the result of much study. It expresses the life of a young Dutch woman; every stitch in the mending of the fishing net, the very rudiment of her existence, brings forth a torrent of poetic thoughts in those who watch her sit there on the vast and seemingly endless dunes, toiling with that seriousness and peacefulness which is so characteristic of these sturdy people. All her hopes are concentrated in this occupation—it is her life.” He concluded: “The picture was taken in 1894 at Katwyk. Taken on an 18 × 24 centimeter plate, with a Zeiss lens. The exhibition prints used are enlarged carbons, as the subject needs size to fully express it” (“My Favorite Picture,” Photographic Life 1 [July 1899], 11–12).

For a further description of Katwijk by Stieglitz, see Key Set number 206.

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, 1949.690 [carbon] (inscribed: Stieglitz)

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:

1895, London, R.P.S (no. 351, as Mending the Nets, platinum)
1896, Berlin (as Mending Nets)
1896, Hamburg (no. 479a, as Die Netzflickerin)
1897, London, Salon, (no. 65, as The Net-Mender)
1898, Vienna (no. 440, as Mending Nets, gum print)
1898, New York, Camera Club (no. 14, as Mending Nets)
1898, Paris (no. 591, as Raccommodant les filets, enlarged carbon)
1898, New York, American Institute (no. 140, as Mending Nets)
1898, Philadelphia (no. 204, as Mending Nets)
1898, Munich (no. 279, as Netzeflicken)
1899, Berlin (no. 570, as Netzflickerin)
1899, New York (no. 37, as Mending Nets, 1894–1899, carbon enlargement)
1899, Boston (no. 83, as Mending Nets, carbon enlargement)
1899, Hamburg (no. 740, as Mending Nets, 1894)
1900, Chicago (no. 108, as Mending Nets)
1900, New York (no. 106, as The Net Mender)
1900, Philadelphia (no. 163, as Mending Nets)
1901, Glasgow (no. 110, as The Net Mender)
1902, New York (no. 126, as The Net-Mender, 1894)
1904, Pittsburgh (no. 227, as The Net-Mender)
1904, The Hague (no. 120, as The Net-Mender)
1909, Dresden (no. 177, as The Net-Mender)
1910, Buffalo (no. 422, as The Net-Mender, 1894, carbon)

Lifetime Publications

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

Alfred Stieglitz and Louis H. Schubart, “Two Artists' Haunts,” The Photographic Times 26 (January 1895): 11 (ill., Mending Nets, Katwyk)

The American Amateur Photographer and Photographic Times Almanac for 1897 (New York, 1896): opp. 19 (ill., Mending the Nets)

W. I. Lincoln Adams, ed., Sunlight and Shadow (New York, 1897): 36 (ill., Mending Nets [Katwyk])

Das Atelier des Photographen 4, heft 7 (1897): opp. 109 (ill., untitled, photogravure)

Wiener Photographische Blätter 5:5 (May 1898): between 112 and 113 (ill., Netz-Flickerin)

F. Matthies-Masuren, “Alfred Stieglitz—New York,” Photographisches Centralblatt 4 (December 1898): between 434 and 444 (ill., Netzflickerin)

Die Kunst in der Photographie 2 (1898): unpaginated (ill., Netzflickerin)

Camera Notes 2:3 (January 1899): opp. 108 (ill., Mending Nets)

Alfred Stieglitz, “Pictorial Photography,” Scribner’s Magazine 26:5 (November 1899): 531 (ill., Mending Nets)

Photographische Rundschau 14:12 (1900): between 236 and 237 (ill., untitled, photogravure)

The Amateur Photographer 32 (20 July 1900): 52 (ill., The Net Mender)

Charles H. Caffin, “Photography as a Fine Art. II.—Alfred Stieglitz and His Work,” Everybody’s Magazine 4 (April 1901): 368 (ill., The Net Mender)

Charles H. Caffin, Photography as a Fine Art (New York, 1901): opp. 42 (ill., The Net Mender)

Outdoor Life 11 (February 1903): unpaginated (ill., Net Mender)

Joseph Keiley, “American Pictorial Photographers. Alfred Stieglitz,” Photography 17:797 (20 February 1904): 155 (ill., The Net Mender)

Sidney Allan [Sadakichi Hartmann], “Figure Composition,” The Photographic Times 42 (January 1910): 25 (ill., The Net Mender)

Sadakichi Hartmann, Landscape and Figure Composition (New York, 1910): 88, fig. 89 (ill., The Net Mender)