The Dying Chestnut Tree

1927

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image shows a close-up view looking upwards at a tall, leafless tree with stark branches against a clear sky. The focus is on the tree with crisp details in the trunk and branches. The color palette is monochromatic with shades of black, white, and grey, emphasizing the contrast between the tree and the sky.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 24.1 × 19.2 cm (9 1/2 × 7 9/16 in.)
    mount: 56.5 × 46.35 cm (22 1/4 × 18 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.673

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    42E

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    1191

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

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 2, cat. 1191.

Inscriptions

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: 1927 [underlined]
by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, bottom left verso, in graphite: 42 E

Wikidata ID

Q64035463

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

“Even made an 8 x 10 of the old Chestnut Tree yesterday” (Stieglitz to Herbert Seligmann, 31 October 1927, YCAL).

Other Collections

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

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, 2003.1.12

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:

possibly 1932, New York (nos. 91–92, as The Dying Chestnut Tree—My Teacher, 1926)

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