Georgia O'Keeffe--Hand and Wheel
1933, printed ca. 1945
Medium
Photography-Photoprint
Classification
Photography-Photoprint
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Albert H. Small
Accession Number
2020.1.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Alfred Stieglitz's *Georgia O'KeeffeHand and Wheel* (3, printed ca. 1945) is a photoprint that captures the intimate elegance of his wife, the renowned modernist painter Georgia OKeeffe. In this close-up composition, O'Keeffe's graceful hand rests against the curving metal of an automobile wheel, blending human form with mechanical precision. Stieglitz, a photographer and champion of modern art, masterfully uses sharp focus and dramatic lighting—hallmarks of his shift from pictorialism to "straight photography"—to elevate everyday elements into abstract poetry. Taken during the couple's later...
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 ...