Equivalent W5

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. There is no visible horizon line, with the focus on the dense cloud cover. The moon is placed slightly off-center towards the upper left. The image has a photographic quality with a range of tones from light to dark, highlighting the varying densities of the clouds. The color palette is monochromatic, mainly black and white, emphasizing dramatic contrasts. The clouds create a thick, textured canopy, with softer, illuminated edges towards the top and darker, solid masses below.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 11.9 × 9.1 cm (4 11/16 × 3 9/16 in.)
    mount: 34.8 x 27.5 cm (13 11/16 x 10 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.1054

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    167C

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    1281

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

Curious for more Alfred Stieglitz scholarship?

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. 145, pl. 67.

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 1281.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: W5 [5 in subscript]
by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite, underlined: 167-C
by later hand, on mount, lower right verso, in graphite: D

Wikidata ID

Q64036356

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:

The Art Institute of Chicago, 1949.801 (inscribed: 1929 / Zoler / Z)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 50.852

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 46.1950 (inscribed: Set C1), 49.1950 (inscribed: Set C4)

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 52.1832

Other Collections

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

Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York

New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, 2278/23PH

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Ph. 367-1982

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