Georgia Engelhard

1920

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

This sepia-toned photograph shows a woman sitting on a windowsill of a wooden building. She is leaning slightly forward with her head turned to the right, appearing to be in the process of navigating out of the window. She has pale skin, soft facial features, and curly hair framing her face. She is nude and is holding three apples close to her side. The background includes the wooden wall with the open window, and through that another window is partially visible showing a blurred background.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    palladium print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 23.2 × 18.8 cm (9 1/8 × 7 3/8 in.)
    sheet: 25.1 × 20.2 cm (9 7/8 × 7 15/16 in.)
    mount: 51.3 × 40.3 cm (20 3/16 × 15 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.496

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    55A

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    638

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

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

2010

  • Alfred Stieglitz: The Lake George Years, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2010

Bibliography

1983

  • Greenough, Sarah, and Juan Hamilton. Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings. Washington, 1983: no. 106, pl. 50.

1990

  • Paulson, Ronald. Figure and Abstraction in Contemporary Painting. New Brunswick and London, 1990: repro. 145.

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 638.

2010

  • Annear, Judy, ed. Alfred Stieglitz: The Lake George Years. Exh. cat. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2010.

Inscriptions

by Doris Bry, on mount, lower left, in graphite: Treated by Steichen - 6/50

Wikidata ID

Q64035056

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

“I remember once when I was fourteen years old sitting on the very edge of a cottage window, bending over with an armful of apples clutched to my bosom as if I were just about to leap down. At best a difficult pose to hold even for a few minutes, but I had to do this for more than an hour with no respite until Stieglitz was satisfied that the light was right, that my pose and expression were right, in other words until all conditions were perfect” (Georgia Engelhard, “Alfred Stieglitz: Master Photographer,” American Photography 39:4 [April 1945], 9).

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, 1949.716

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