Nearing Land

1904, printed 1905

Alfred Stieglitz (editor/publisher) after Various Artists

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

This is a photograph of a ship at sea, seen from its deck with a distant sailboat on the horizon. The image captures the side of a large ship, with a focus on its deck where various individuals fill the scene. The ship is positioned at a slight diagonal, leading the viewer's eye out to the open sea where a lone sailboat is visible in the background. The photograph is a monochrome image, depicting the movement and life aboard a ship, contrasting the smallness of the distant sailboat against the vastness of the ocean. The photograph's soft focus and grainy texture suggest an early 20th-century pictorialist style.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    photogravure

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 21.5 × 17.4 cm (8 7/16 × 6 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.1272.38

  • Volume Title

    Camera Work 12, October 1905, pl. 5

  • Copyright

    Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

  • Key Set Number

    293

Associated Artworks

See all 10 artworks

Camera Work: Vol.3: Numbers 9-12

Alfred Stieglitz

1905

The image shows two horses standing side by side. The horse on the left is dark in color, while the one on the right is light colored. Both horses are wearing harnesses with reins attached. The dark horse's mane covers part of its face, while the light-colored horse's mane is smoother and lighter. The image has a slightly out-of-focus look, giving it an artistic, vintage feel. The background is a hazy landscape, suggesting a countryside environment. The image is in black and white.

Horses

Alfred Stieglitz

1904

The image shows a street view of a winter scene. It features a snow-covered road with a horse-drawn carriage moving towards the viewer. The horizon is obscured by a snowstorm, blending the sky with the snowy elements. Tall buildings are seen on the right side, gradually fading into the distance. The brushstrokes in the image give a soft, blurred effect, resembling early photographs. The color palette is monochromatic in grayscale tones, highlighting the cold environment. The snow is depicted as thick and mushy, with tracks from previous vehicles visible. In the background, other carriages and figures can be faintly seen through the falling snow.

Winter—Fifth Avenue

Alfred Stieglitz

1893

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

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. 293.

Wikidata ID

Q64037879

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

Stieglitz probably made this photograph during the summer of 1904, while traveling in Europe.

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:

1905, London (no. 228, as Nearing Land)
1905, New York (no. 79, as Nearing Land)

Lifetime Publications

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

Camera Work 12 (October 1905): pl. 5 (ill., Nearing Land, 1904)

Note

Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

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