Songs of the Sky

1923

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows clouds in the sky from a low angle. There is no horizon visible. The clouds have billowing forms and a textured appearance. The sky is dark, with varied shades of black and white highlighting the contrast within the clouds.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 11.9 x 9.2 cm (4 11/16 x 3 5/8 in.)
    mount: 34.3 x 27.6 cm (13 1/2 x 10 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.1136

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    258C

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    928

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

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 928.

Inscriptions

by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: 258C

Wikidata ID

Q64036547

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

The date is based on similarities to other cloud photographs made in 1923.

A print of this image is mounted to the back of a variant of Crow’s Feather and Apple (Key Set number 1039) at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven (YCAL MSS 85, box 148, folder 2747), dated 1924.

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