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Course: Modernisms 1900-1980 > Unit 8
Lesson 4: 291- 291—Little Galleries of the Photo Secession
- The first modern photograph? Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage
- Stieglitz, The Steerage
- Florine Stettheimer, Portrait of Alfred Stieglitz
- Marsden Hartley, Portrait of a German Officer
- The City at night, Joseph Stella's The Voice of the City of New York Interpreted
- Charles Demuth, I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
- Georgia O'Keeffe, Radiator Building—Night, New York
- O'Keeffe, The Lawrence Tree
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Florine Stettheimer, Portrait of Alfred Stieglitz
Florine Stettheimer, Portrait of Alfred Stieglitz, 1928, oil on canvas, 96.5 x 66.7 cm (Fisk University and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art). Speakers: Dr. Jen Padgett, Associate Curator, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Smarthistory.
Video transcript
(playful piano music) - [Steven] We're at Crystal
Bridge's Museum of American Art looking at a painting
by Florine Stettheimer. It's a portrait of Alfred Stieglitz, one of the most important photographers, gallerists, and modernists in early 20th-century American history. This painting is part of the
Alfred Stieglitz collection, co-owned by Fisk University
in Nashville, Tennessee and by Crystal Bridge's
Museum of American Art. - [Jen] It was a painting
that Stieglitz owned himself and that was gifted to him by Stettheimer. And in the painting, she captures the sense of Stieglitz at the center of a circle
of artistic activity within New York - [Steven] Stieglitz had created a circle of many of the most important American artists and photographers through a series of galleries
and salons in New York before modern art had
been established here. - [Jen] And for Stettheimer, much of that activity
was around gatherings in the home that she shared
with her mother and two sisters. They would hold salons to discuss the most exciting developments around art and culture during that moment. Painting, for her, was about these personal
reflections and connections, so many of her paintings depict individuals within her circle and images of family enjoying leisure. - [Steven] And that is the
case with this portrait. This is a portrait of
Stieglitz, a close friend, and the references that are
contained within this painting are ones that this entire
circle would have recognized - [Jen] In the individual boards that have the names of artists, one is Marsden Hartley, written in a rather decorative script. One is the letters D-O-V-E,
of Arthur Dove's name, another painter within this circle around Alfred Stieglitz. And then one is Paul Strand, a photographer who worked
closely with Stieglitz. - [Steven] And then, in the
upper part of the painting, there are works of art that
are hanging on the walls. On the left, we see two framed
paintings by John Marin, and then, directly in back of Stieglitz, there are references to
his wife at this time, Georgia O'Keefe, a painting with a large leaf form that seems to be very close
to the kinds of paintings that O'Keefe produced at Lake George. And then, over his other shoulder, you can actually read the word O'Keefe. And just beside that, the
profile of that painter. - [Jen] Stettheimer,
Stieglitz, and O'Keefe were actively writing
letters to each other during this time. Stieglitz was at Lake George at the time that Stettheimer
was working on the painting. That sense of geography, and Stieglitz's connection to place, is something that Stettheimer references, where she has the stepped
profile of a skyscraper, emphasizing Stieglitz's association with the city of New York. And then, further into the background, she shows a horse race, which would reference
his time at Lake George and nearby Saratoga. - [Steven] Saratoga, at this time, was a fashionable place
for the wealthy in New York to summer for its racetrack and for its hot springs. - [Jen] Some of the
figures we can recognize because they appear in
other Stettheimer paintings, such as the portrait of Henry McBride wearing glasses with his arms crossed. - [Steven] McBride was an
important critic of modernism and was a close friend of Stettheimer's and the Stieglitz circle. - [Jen] Stettheimer emphasized the queer figures within this circle, those who were gay or bisexual, who she embraced within
a more inclusive circle of her salons. You can see, on the left-hand side, the cane, hand, and foot surely
belonged to Charles Demuth, who was a painter within the circle. Demuth walked with a cane
because of a hip infirmity, but here, it also reads as an accessory of a dandy figure, a sharply-dressed individual. - [Steven] The identity of the
figure in green on the right is less secure, but we know that everybody
who looked at this painting from this circle would have recognized, presumably,
the pattern on the sock and the reference to the ermine
cuff and the yellow glove. - [Jen] We think it might have
been Baron Adolph de Meyer, who was another queer
figure within this circle, a photographer who often
dressed fashionably and created images for fashion magazines. - [Steven] And both of
those fragmentary figures are really striking, because beside the leaf
in the O'Keefe painting, these are virtually the
only touches of color, the exception being the date just at the feet of Stieglitz. The painting is black and white, just as Stieglitz's photography
was black and white. This is a portrait that goes far beyond the idea of likeness. This is a portrait that
is meant to express what was important to this man. - [Jen] That choice of color was also a major
departure for Stettheimer. Many of her other paintings feature rather electric
colors and pastels, so seeing this painting in contrast emphasizes how she was thinking
about it in different ways because of the sitter's identity. Stettheimer wasn't depicting
Stieglitz as he looked. He never sat for the portrait. She depicts him much younger than his age of 64 at that time. But it's about capturing
the sense of an individual, the energy behind them, and not just one-to-one likeness. This really dramatic cape that he wears was a bit of a signature for him, and Stettheimer heightens that by making him the large figure. The way that his hand emerges from within the folds of the fabric draws you directly into
the center of the work. - [Steven] And although she had been classically trained as an artist, she is playing fast and loose with the anatomy of the figures. Obviously, Henry McBride is much taller than he would have been, but even the main figure,
Stieglitz, is attenuated. He's given a kind of elegance and a drama that goes
beyond the naturalistic - [Jen] But I can't help but be drawn to the detail of his feet, which poke out, almost
daintily, from the bottom. That seems to add a sense of whimsy. - [Steven] In fact, the way
that he walks out towards us almost suggests this as a kind of stage, that she is staging a performance that is Stieglitz and his circle. - [Jen] And we know that performance is happening within a space that was one of Stieglitz's galleries, which he operated between 1925 and 1929. You can see that through the number 303, which was the room number, and then his name underneath that, as the hand with the ermine cuff opens the door to The Room, which was the nickname given to Stieglitz's Intimate Gallery. - [Steven] This portrait is so important, because although its elements would've been seen as playful and familiar to Stieglitz and his circle, for us, it's a window that
allows us back into this world. (playful piano music)