The Dying Chestnut Tree—My Teacher

1927

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows a group of leafless trees with thin, intricate branches reaching into the sky. The horizon is not visible, highlighting the network of branches. The barren trees are positioned close with one branch stretching across the upper right corner. The style features clean lines depicting the branches against a smooth sky. The color palette is monochromatic with varying shades of gray. The absence of leaves gives the image a stark quality, contrasting with the sky.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 24 × 19.1 cm (9 7/16 × 7 1/2 in.)
    mount: 55.2 × 45.7 cm (21 3/4 × 18 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.685

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    27A

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    1194

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

1958

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

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 1194.

Inscriptions

by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, bottom left verso, in graphite: 27-A; bottom right verso, in graphite: 27A
by later hand, on mount, lower right verso, in graphite: .88

Wikidata ID

Q64035488

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

See Key Set number 1191.

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, 1949.781

Library of Congress, Washington, PH-33 B

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 49.55.43

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 50.841

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 52.1810

Other Collections

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

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, E.894-2003

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 2016.101.409

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 1932, New York (nos. 91–92, as The Dying Chestnut Tree—My Teacher, 1926)

Lifetime Publications

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

Waldo Frank et al., America & Alfred Stieglitz (New York, 1934): pl. 32b (ill., Dying Chestnut Trees—Lake George, 1924)

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