Equivalent

1931

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows a view of the sky from below, with dark clouds filling the frame. There is no visible horizon, keeping the focus on the sky. A dim orb, likely the sun or moon, is seen in the lower left corner casting a soft glow through the clouds. The brushstrokes create soft edges resembling clouds or mist. The color scheme is mainly gray and black with some pale light to contrast and enhance the mysterious atmosphere.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 11.8 x 8.9 cm (4 5/8 x 3 1/2 in.)
    mount: 34.8 x 27.5 cm (13 11/16 x 10 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.1088

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    149D

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    1417

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

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 1417.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, center left verso, in graphite: Ex 1932; upper right verso, in blue pencil, circled: BB
by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: 149-D

Wikidata ID

Q64036437

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

The “BB” inscription may stand for “Before Boston,” referring to a trip Stieglitz made in the summer of 1931 to visit Dorothy Norman. Several Equivalents at Philadelphia are titled by Stieglitz “Before Boston Series.”

Other Collections

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

Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York

Location unknown

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:

1932, New York

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