Portrait of Georgia, No. 1

Art Historical Context

Welcome to the National Gallery of Art, where Alfred Stieglitz's *Portrait of Georgia, No 1* (1923) captures intimate moment in photographic history. This gelatin silver print, measuring just 11.6 x 9.2 cm, is the first in a renowned series of over 300 portraits Stieglitz made of wife, the modernist painter Georgia O'Keeffe between 1918 and her death in 1986. As a pioneer of photography as fine art, Stieglitz founded the Photo-Secession and championed "straight photography," emphasizing the medium's inherent qualities without manipulation. In this small-scale work from the Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Stieglitz employs the gelatin silver process—a crisp, high-contrast technique that became standard for 20th-century black-and-white prints—forcing viewers into close proximity with O'Keeffe's features. Her face emerges softly yet directly, blurring the line between portraiture and abstraction, much like her own paintings of bones and landscapes. This image reflects their passionate partnership, which bridged photography and painting, influencing American modernism. A testament to Stieglitz's vision, *Portrait of Georgia, No. 1* invites us to ponder the personal in the artistic, reminding visitors how a tiny print can hold profound emotional depth. (198 words)

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 ...