From My Window at the Shelton, North

1930/1931

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows a tall building under construction, captured from a low-angle viewpoint with a diagonal frame. The building leans from the bottom left towards the top right and is surrounded by scaffolding. The sky with soft clouds is the backdrop, and the horizon is not visible. The black-and-white photograph uses grayscale gradients for depth and texture, with light and shadow emphasizing the architectural details. The color palette consists of various shades of gray.

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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

    1949.3.1212

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    136C

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    1355

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

1996

  • Smith, Joel. "How Stieglitz Came to Photograph Cityscapes." History of Photography 20, no. 4 (Winter 1996): 325.

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 1355.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount: center verso, in graphite: Ex 1932
by later hands, on mount, upper center verso, in graphite: 11; lower left verso: 136C; upper right verso, in blue pencil, circled: B

Wikidata ID

Q64036718

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

This photograph and Key Set number 1356 depict the RCA Victor Building, which became the General Electric Building shortly after its completion in early 1931 (hereafter referred to as the GE Building). Based on the composition and the small 4 × 5-inch format, these two images were probably made at the same time as Key Set numbers 1350–1354.

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 (nos. 10–16, as From my window at The Shelton, north, 1931)

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