Georgia O'Keeffe and Donald Davidson Pruning Trees

1919/1921

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

This is a photograph of a person tending to a tree with a ladder and a saw nearby. The image captures a scene set in an outdoor environment with lush greenery providing a serene backdrop. A ladder is positioned against a tree. Cut branches lie on the ground. The grass around the area is slightly overgrown. The lighting suggests that the photograph might have been taken during the day, with light diffusing softly.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 8.7 x 11.5 cm (3 7/16 x 4 1/2 in.)
    mount: 34.8 x 26.8 cm (13 11/16 x 10 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1980.70.126

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    OK 515E

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    616

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, 1980.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1983

  • Photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, February 3–May 8, 1983; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, June 17–August 14, 1983; The Art Institute of Chicago, October 18, 1983–January 3, 1984

2004

  • Alfred Stieglitz and His Circle: 1905–1930, Musée d'Orsay, Paris; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2004–2005

Bibliography

1983

  • Greenough, Sarah, and Juan Hamilton. Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings. Washington, 1983: no. 90.

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 616.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: 1919
by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: OK 515E

Wikidata ID

Q64037149

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Stieglitz Collections

A corresponding print was given to the following institution(s) by Alfred Stieglitz during his lifetime, or was received or acquired from the estate:

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, YCAL MSS 85, box 122, folder 2453

George Eastman Museum, Rochester, 74:0052:0043

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 24.1736 (inscribed: Tree Pruning—Lake George / 1921 / Photograph by / Alfred Stieglitz / New York / Negative & Print made in / Lake George, N.Y. / by Alfred Stieglitz / 1921 / Print 4 from this negative)

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 52.1820

Other Collections

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

Collection of Betsy Karel

Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1978-83-2

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