The Steerage

1907, printed 1911

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz
Artist, American, 1864 - 1946
The artwork "The Steerage" depicts a crowded scene aboard a ship. In the foreground, there are numerous people, both men and women, mostly captured from the waist up. They are dressed in a variety of clothing typical of the early 20th century, including hats and shawls. Several individuals are sitting or standing, and one person is holding a child. A metal railing and a ladder are visible, with clothing draped over some railings. The upper part of the image shows more people standing and leaning on the railings of an upper deck. The background consists of structural elements of the ship, including large pipes and ropes.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    photogravure

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 19.3 × 15.1 cm (7 5/8 × 5 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.1278.37

  • Volume Title

    Camera Work 36, October 1911, pl. 9

  • Copyright

    Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

  • Key Set Number

    310

Associated Artworks

See all 16 artworks

Camera Work: Vol.9: Numbers 33, 34/35, 36

Alfred Stieglitz
1911
The artwork "City of Ambition" presents a cityscape from a low vantage point, looking towards towering skyscrapers in the distance. The horizon is dominated by these tall buildings, which create a silhouette against the sky. The image is captured in a monochromatic palette, with shades of gray and black. Smoke or steam rises from the buildings. The water in the foreground reflects light, creating a contrasting texture to the solid forms of the structures.

City of Ambition

Alfred Stieglitz
1910
The image shows a riverside area with a stack of cut logs in the foreground. A railing from a structure is visible on the left. In the background, there is a cityscape silhouette with buildings. A steamship is seen moving across the water with billowing white smoke. The image is characterized by a soft-focus effect, giving it a dream-like quality. The color palette is predominantly soft sepia tones.

The City across the River

Alfred Stieglitz
1910
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

1992

  • Stieglitz in the Darkroom, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, October 4, 1992–February 14, 1993

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 310.

Wikidata ID

Q64037820

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

On 14 May 1907 Stieglitz and his family sailed to Europe aboard the fashionable Kaiser Wilhelm II. This photograph was most likely taken several days later while the ship was moored in Plymouth, England (see Beaumont Newhall, “Alfred Stieglitz: Homeward Bound,” Art News 87:3 [March 1988], 141–142).

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:

1913, New York (no. 21, as The Steerage, 1907)
1915, New York (as The Steerage (from 291)
1916, New York (no. 100, as The Steerage)
1917, New York (no. 217, as The Steerage)
1918, New York (no. 4, as The Steerage, 1907)
1921, New York (no. 19, as The Steerage, 1907)
1924, New York (no. 61, as The Steerage, 1907)
1931, New York (as Steerage)
1932, New York (no. 44, as The Steerage, 1907, gelatin silver print)
1937, New York, MoMA (no. 336, as The Steerage, 1907, photogravure from 291)
1937, New York, American Place (no. 19, as The Steerage, 1907)
1939, San Antonio (no. 130, as The Steerage, 1907, photogravure)
1940, New York (as The Steerage)
1944, Philadelphia (no. 20, as Steerage, 1907, photogravure)

Lifetime Publications

A reproduction of this work appeared in the following publication(s) during Alfred Stieglitz’s lifetime:

Camera Work 36 (October 1911): pl. 9 (ill., The Steerage, 1907)

Saturday Evening Mail (20 April 1912): cover, magazine section (ill., The Steerage)

291 7–8 (September–October 1915): insert (ill., The Steerage, photogravure)

Marius de Zayas, “The Steerage,” American Photography 10 (March 1916): 121 (ill., The Steerage)

Artlover 2:1 (1924): unpaginated (ill., The Steerage, 1907)

“American Photography Honored,” The Outlook 136 (20 February 1924): 297 (ill., The Steerage)

Vanity Fair 21 (August 1924): 54 (ill., Beyond the Quota—in the Steerage)

Waldo Frank et al., America & Alfred Stieglitz (New York, 1934): pl. 26b (ill., The Steerage, 1907)

Louis Adamio, “An Immigrant Who Made Good in America: How Corsi, Who Arrived in the United States at the Age of Ten, Became Boss of Ellis Island,” The New York Herald Tribune Books (27 January 1935): section 7, 3 (ill., The Steerage, 1907)

Thomas Craven, “Stieglitz—Old Master of the Camera,” Saturday Evening Post 216:28 (8 January 1944): 15 (ill., The Steerage)

Georgia Engelhard, “Alfred Stieglitz: Master Photographer,” American Photography 39 (April 1945): 11 (ill., The Steerage)

Note

Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

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