Poplars—Lake George

1931

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows a black-and-white photograph with tall, slender trees reaching into the sky. The trees create a silhouette against the clouds and sky, with the focus on their height and thin leaves. The sky is partly cloudy, with different shades of light and shadow. The overall color palette consists of monochromatic tones, ranging from dark blacks and grays to bright whites.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 11.9 x 9.3 cm (4 11/16 x 3 11/16 in.)
    mount: 34.9 x 27.6 cm (13 3/4 x 10 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.1099

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    223B

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    1407

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

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 1407.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: X3 / 1931
by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: 223B
by later hand, on mount, lower right verso, in graphite: X

Wikidata ID

Q64036460

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

In 1923 and 1927 Stieglitz included photographs of the poplar trees at Lake George as part of his Songs of the Sky and Equivalent series. In the 1930s the gradual death of the poplars became a separate subject in his art.

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