Jennie (?)
1920
Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to image): 11.6 x 9.3 cm (4 9/16 x 3 11/16 in.) mount: 31.2 x 24.8 cm (12 5/16 x 9 3/4 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Alfred Stieglitz Collection
Accession Number
1949.3.453
Art Historical Context
Alfred Stieglitz’s 1920 gelatin silver print titled Jennie (?) captures a quiet, intimate moment through the lens of one of photography’s most influential figures. A pioneering advocate for photography as fine art, Stieglitz helped shape the medium’s acceptance in museums during the early twentieth century. This small-scale portrait, trimmed to the image and mounted on a larger sheet, reflects his commitment to direct, unmanipulated imagery at a time when many photographers still favored painterly effects. The gelatin silver print process allowed Stieglitz to achieve rich tonal contrasts and ...
About the Artist
Alfred Stieglitz · 1864–1946
Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) was a pioneering American photographer, art dealer, publisher, and advocate for the Modernist movement who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to German Jewish immigrant parents, Stieglitz spent his formative years studying mechanical engineering in Berlin, where he discovered photography in ...