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393 of 1642 from the Alfred Stieglitz Key Set
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Remarks

From left to right are: Picasso, Still Life: Bottle and Glass on Table, 1912, charcoal, ink, and pasted newspaper (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); Reliquary Figure, Kota People, Gabon, 19th/early 20th century, wood with beaten bronze overlay (Fisk University, Nashville, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville); a brass bowl; a wasps’ nest; and Picasso, Violin, c. 1912, charcoal on paper (Philadelphia Museum of Art). The brass bowl, often filled with branches or dried flowers, was always present at the gallery. During an exhibition of African wood statuary held from 3 November to 8 December 1914, the wasps’ nest rested in the bowl rather than on the pedestal seen here.

Although Stieglitz’s inscription indicates that this photograph records the 1915 Picasso and Braque show at 291, it may not depict the actual exhibition. None of the several exhibition reviews notes the striking juxtaposition between the works by Picasso, the Kota reliquary, and the wasps’ nest. In addition, the Picasso drawings rest on the shelf rather than hang on the wall.

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 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 49.55.36

Other Collections

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

The Bluff Collection

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 633.1941 (inscribed: Picasso–Braque Exhibition at “291” Jan 1915)

Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1997-146-75 [gelatin silver] (inscribed: Exhibition “291”— Picasso–Braque / Stieglitz)

Private collection (inscribed: Alfred Stieglitz / The Picasso/Braque Exhibition “291” / To Mr. & Mrs. Chas. J. Liebmann)

Private collection, San Francisco

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. 55, as Second Picasso Exhibition, 1914)
1944, Philadelphia (no. 176, as Charles Demuth, 1915)

Lifetime Publications

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

Dorothy Norman, “Alfred Stieglitz,” Wings 8:12 (December 1934), 7–9 (ill., Exhibition at “291,” 1914)

“Speaking of Pictures . . . These are by one of Photography’s Pioneers,” Life 14:14 (5 April 1943): 7 (ill., untitled, image reversed)

Waldo Frank et al., America & Alfred Stieglitz (New York, 1934): pl. 13a (ill., Picasso—Negro Art—Braque. Exhibition at 291, 1914)

Inscription

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: 291 — / Picasso–Braque Exhibition / 1915

by Doris Bry, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: 90 - A

Provenance

Georgia O'Keeffe; gift to NGA, 1949.

Associated Names

O'Keeffe, Georgia

Exhibition History

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

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

2001: Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2001

2016: Intersections: Photographs and Videos from the National Gallery of Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2016–2017

Bibliography

1958: Bry, Doris. Exhibition of Photographs by Alfred Stieglitz. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1958: pl. 5.

1973: Norman, Dorothy. Alfred Stieglitz: An American Seer. New York, 1973: fig. 55.

1983: Greenough, Sarah, and Juan Hamilton. Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings. Washington, 1983: no. 54, pl. 23.

1994: Leavell, Linda. Marianne Moore and the Visual Arts. Baton Rouge and London, 1994: fig. 4.

2000: Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001: no. 51.

2002: Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 393.

2009: Grossman, Wendy. Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens. Exh. cat. The Phillips Collection, Washington, 2009.

291—Picasso-Braque Exhibition, 1915