Equivalent W1

1929

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows a view looking up at a sky filled with textured clouds. The clouds form a dense, dramatic pattern across the entire composition, creating a sense of depth with darker areas concentrated towards the center and lighter areas along the edges, particularly towards the top right where a lighter section is visible. The horizon is not visible in this view. The style is photographic, capturing a realistic texture and gradation in the cloud formations. The overall color palette is monochromatic, with grayscale tones ranging from deep black to soft whites, emphasizing the interplay of light and shadow within the cloud cover.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 11.8 x 9.2 cm (4 5/8 x 3 5/8 in.)
    mount: 34.8 x 27.5 cm (13 11/16 x 10 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.1050

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    166E

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    1277

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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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.

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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

Bibliography

1983

  • Greenough, Sarah, and Juan Hamilton. Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings. Washington, 1983: no. 141, pl. 63.

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 1277.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: W1 [1 in subscript]
by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: 166E

Wikidata ID

Q64036350

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

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:

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 50.850

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