Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946) The "Flat-iron"

Description:

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)

The "Flat-iron", from Camera Work, no. 4, 1903. Photogravure on paper, image/sheet size 6 3/8 x 3 1/4 in. (17.0 x 8.3 cm),matted, framed.
Condition: Affixed to brown paper support at bottom corners (top hinges broken),minor fox mark or similar in u.l. quadrant.

N.B. As a founding member of the Photo-Secession and publisher of Camera Work, Alfred Stieglitz was a major force in the promotion and elevation of photography as a fine art in America at the turn of the 20th century. This view of the Fuller Building, better known as the Flat-iron because of its shape, demonstrates the Pictorialist aesthetic--painterly, soft focus images with subtle tonal variation and unusual compositions--Stieglitz first championed. The composition of overlapping forms and flattened space also shows the influence of 19th century Japanese woodblock prints. At the same time, Stieglitz's embrace of a more modernist depiction of contemporary life is reflected by the architectural form of the building, which he described as appearing to move toward him "like the bow of a monster ocean steamer--a picture of a new America that was still in the making."[1]

[1] Alfred Stieglitz, "Six Happening I: Photographing the Flat-Iron Building, 1902-3," Twice a Year 14-15 (1946-47),188.
Estimate $2,000-3,000

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