Marcel Duchamp

1923

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

This sepia-toned photograph depicts a man from the shoulders up, his body turned to the right and his head turned over his shoulder towards us. His gaze is directed to the left. He has pale skin, dark hair that has been neatly combed back, high cheekbones, deep-set eyes, and a slightly pointed chin. His expression is neutral. He is dressed in a dark coat over a shirt and tie. The knot of the tie is visible above the coat's collar. The background is plain gray, with a small strip of black at the bottom behind the man.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    palladium print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    image (Stieglitz window mat): 22.3 × 17.4 cm (8 3/4 × 6 7/8 in.)
    sheet: 25 × 20.2 cm (9 13/16 × 7 15/16 in.)
    mount: 56.6 × 46.4 cm (22 5/16 × 18 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.585

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    38D

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    840

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

2009

  • Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, 2009

2010

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

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 840.

2009

  • Goodyear, Anne Collins, and James W. McManus, eds. Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture. Exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, Washington, 2009.

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; lower left verso: 38 D

Wikidata ID

Q64035233

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

The French painter, sculptor, and celebrated intellectual Marcel Duchamp first came to the United States in 1915 when he fled war-torn Europe. He met Stieglitz that year and the two had intermittent contact until the mid-1930s.

According to a letter from Charles Demuth to Stieglitz (16 April 1923, YCAL, see Key Set number 842), Stieglitz made this portrait and Key Set number 841 around the same time as Key Set numbers 842-845.

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 124, folder 2472 [gelatin silver]

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 1923, New York (no. 71, as Marcel Duchamp, 1923)
possibly 1944, Philadelphia (no. 179, as Marcel Duchamp, 1923, platinum)

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