Georgia O'Keeffe
1918
Medium
palladium print
Dimensions
image: 24.3 x 19.2 cm (9 9/16 x 7 9/16 in.) sheet: 25 x 20.1 cm (9 13/16 x 7 15/16 in.) mat: 51.9 x 39.9 cm (20 7/16 x 15 11/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Alfred Stieglitz Collection
Accession Number
1980.70.107
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
In 1918, pioneering photographer Alfred Stiegl captured this intimate palladium print portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe his muse and future wife. Titled simply *Georgia O'Kee*, the image measures about 9½ x 7½ inches and exemplifies Stieglitz's shift toward "straight photography," emphasizing clarity and emotional depth over pictorialist softness. As a founder of the Photo-Secession movement, Stieitz championed photography as fine art, and this work from his personal collection at the National Gallery of Art reveals his fascination with O'Keeffe's striking features and artistic spirit. The palladium printing process, a variant of platinum printing, lends the photograph its rich, warm tones and exceptional detail, prized for its longevity and subtlety. Created just as O'Keeffe's modernist paintings were gaining notice through Stieglitz's Gallery 291, this portrait bridges personal affection and professional promotion. It symbolizes the intersection of photography and early 20th-century American modernism, immortalizing a key figure whose bold abstractions would redefine art. Today, housed in the National Gallery's CPH department, this piece invites visitors to ponder the synergy between two titans of American creativity—Stieglitz's lens forever framing O'Keeffe's enigmatic gaze.
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 ...