From the Shelton, New York, Looking East

1926/1927

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows an industrial cityscape from an elevated point of view. The skyline is dominated by factory buildings and smokestacks. Smoke is rising vertically into the sky, creating a heavy and hazy atmosphere. The color palette is primarily muted tones and grayscale. Closest to the viewer are city rooftops, with a waterway dividing the scene from the distant landscape of more factories.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 9 x 11.7 cm (3 9/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
    mount: 27 x 33 cm (10 5/8 x 13 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.1267

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    131D

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    1179

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

Exhibition History

2016

  • Georgia O'Keeffe, Tate Modern, London, July 6–October 30, 2016; Bank Austria Kunstforum, Vienna, December 7, 2016–March 26, 2017; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, April 22–July 30, 2017

2024

  • Georgia O’Keeffe: “My New Yorks", The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2024 - 2025, unnumbered catalogue.

Bibliography

1991

  • Peters, Sarah Whitaker. Becoming O'Keeffe: The Early Years. New York, 1991: pl. 150.

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 1179.

Inscriptions

by later hand, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: 131D

Wikidata ID

Q64036841

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

In November 1925 Stieglitz and O’Keeffe moved from an apartment on East 58th Street to the thirtieth floor of the newly constructed Shelton Hotel on Lexington Avenue, between 48th and 49th Streets. The atmospheric qualities of this print distinguish it from Stieglitz’s later studies of the city, and suggest that it was one of his first photographs taken from the Shelton. The title is based on Stieglitz’s inscriptions on Key Set numbers 1181 and 1187.

O’Keeffe made two paintings of this same view, River, New York, 1928, and East River from the 30th Story of the Shelton Hotel, 1928 (Lynes 619 and 620).

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