Jean Toomer
1925
Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to image): 11.9 × 9.2 cm (4 11/16 × 3 5/8 in.) mount: 34.2 × 27.55 cm (13 7/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Alfred Stieglitz Collection
Accession Number
1949.3.641
Art Historical Context
In 1925, pioneering photographer Alfred Stiegl captured the introspective portrait *Jean Toomer*, a gelatin silver print now housed in the National Gallery of Art's Stieglitz Collection The intimate image, trimmed to a compact 11.9 × 9.2 cm sheet and presented on a larger 34.2 × 27.55 cm mount, showcases Toomer—author of the landmark Harlem Renaissance novel *Cane (1923)—gazing thoughtfully off-frame. Stieglitz, a champion of photography as fine art, often portrayed intellectuals and artists, bridging visual and literary worlds during the vibrant 1920s cultural explosion. This work exemplifie...
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 ...