Bly and Venus

1920

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows the head and shoulders of an older man facing the camera, with pronounced wrinkles and a mustache. He wears a dark flat cap and clothing typical of a vintage style. Beside him in the blurred background is a statue of a woman, likely a classical figure, with distinct facial features and textured hair sculpted in a classical style. The background is plain and light.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 8.5 x 8.6 cm (3 3/8 x 3 3/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.450

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    206B

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    624

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

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

Bibliography

1947

  • Sweeney, James J. "Rebel with a Camera." New York Times (8 June 1947).

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 624.

Inscriptions

by later hand, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: 206 B

Wikidata ID

Q64034967

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

Stieglitz probably made this photograph of Bly, a gardener at Lake George, during the move from Oaklawn, a big house on the shore of the lake, to a smaller farmhouse on the property (see Key Set number 623).

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:

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, YCAL MSS 85, box 122, folder 2455

Fisk University, Nashville, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, ASC.2012.87

Other Collections

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

Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1968-162-30 (inscribed on postcard to Carl Zigrosser stamped 12 September 1921: When Greek meets Greek / they send out an / Anonymous Letter / of Protest / Venus is on / the Job making converts.— / Long live the / Art-Makers. / Greetings, S.)

Private collection

Location unknown (inscribed on postcard to Katharine Rhoades: Weighed 2 1/2 lbs when he was born. And merely came into the world to have this picture taken—Is over 70—doesn’t feel a day over 17—knows he’ll get to be more than 100—will shoot to kill any one trying to rob him of a moment’s freedom . . .)

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:

1923, New York (no. 116, as Bly, 1920)

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