From the Back-Window—291

1915

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows an urban landscape with buildings against a dimly lit sky. The view is from a low vantage point looking up at tall structures, without a visible horizon. The tallest building is centrally located with illuminated windows, surrounded by slightly shorter buildings, some with visible rooftops. Closest to the viewer, dark shrubbery contrasts with the buildings' lines. The image has a monochromatic color palette of gray and black, creating an atmospheric urban night scene.

Media Options

This object’s media is not available for download. Contact us about image usage.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    platinum print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 24 x 19.2 cm (9 7/16 x 7 9/16 in.)
    sheet: 24 x 19.2 cm (9 7/16 x 7 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.401

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    11E

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    424

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

Curious for more Alfred Stieglitz scholarship?

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.

Learn about the Key Set

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Georgia O'Keeffe; gift to NGA, 1949.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2002

  • Alfred Stieglitz: Known and Unknown, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, June 2–September 2, 2002; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 6, 2002–January 5, 2003

2016

  • Georgia O'Keeffe, Tate Modern, London, July 6–October 30, 2016; Bank Austria Kunstforum, Vienna, December 7, 2016–March 26, 2017; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, April 22–July 30, 2017

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 424.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, center left verso, in graphite: 1916
by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: 11 E

Wikidata ID

Q64034913

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 1921, New York (no. 50, as August Stormlight, 1915, from the series “From the Back-Window—291”)

You may be interested in

Loading Results