Alfred Stieglitz and the 19th Century at The Art Institute of Chicago

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Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864–1946) tirelessly promoted photography as a fine art. Through his own photographic work over the course of a half-century, the photographic journals he edited and published, and the New York galleries at which he organized exhibitions of photographs, paintings, and sculpture, Stieglitz showed photography to be an integral part of modern art in America. In a search for artistic ancestors, he looked intently at photography of the 19th century, most notably that of Julia Margaret Cameron and the Scottish duo David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson. Their work resonated for Pictorialism, a movement that valued painterly, handcrafted images, and these earlier photographs were exhibited and reprinted for new audiences. Stieglitz’s fledgling interest to create a history of photography as an art form was also evidenced in his decision, later in his career, to revisit his own prior output, reprinting earlier images in a high modernist style.

The Stieglitz collection at the Art Institute includes several later Cameron and Hill and Adamson prints along with important works by Stieglitz himself, Edward Steichen, and other Pictorialist artists. Drawn entirely from the permanent collection, this exhibition examines how 19th-century photographs influenced Pictorialist practice. Fostering close looking at different photographic processes—from salt and albumen prints of the 19th century, to carbon prints and photogravures of turn-of-the-century reproduction, to crisp gelatin silver prints of the modernist period—it shows Stieglitz and his circle in the context of a changing photographic history.

Alfred Stieglitz. Georgia O'Keeffe, 1918. The Art Institute of Chicago. Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

Alfred Stieglitz. Georgia O'Keeffe,1918. The Art Institute of Chicago. Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

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Julia Margaret Cameron. Julia Jackson, 1867. The Art Institute of Chicago. Harriott A. Fox Endowment

Julia Margaret Cameron. Julia Jackson, 1867. The Art Institute of Chicago. Harriott A. Fox Endowment

Cameron_Thomas-Carlyle_1867

Julia Margaret Cameron. Thomas Carlyle, 1867, printed 1875. The Art Institute of Chicago. Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

Hill-Adamson_Portrait-of-James-Nasmyth1844

David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson. Portrait of James Nasmyth,c. 1844. The Art Institute of Chicago. Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

Stiglitz_The-Hand-of-Man_1902

Alfred Stieglitz. The Hand of Man,1902. The Art Institute of Chicago. Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

Stieglitz_The-Steerage_1907

Alfred Stieglitz.The Steerage, 1907, printed 1920/39. The Art Institute of Chicago. Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

“Alfred Stieglitz and the 19th Century”
thru March 27, 2016
The Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, IL

FRAMING SPECIFICATIONS AND ADVICE

Kertesz frame
Kertesz frame

METRO GALLERY FRAME

Museum Profile: André Kertész
Type: Museum Frame Collection
Wood & Finish: cherry wood frame with charcoal finish
Purchasing Option: joined wood frame
Framing Advice: fitting gallery frames

 

The Kertesz profile is a frame that was originally custom milled for the André Kertész exhibit February 6 – May 15, 2005 at the National Gallery of Art