Songs of the Sky K1 or H1
probably 1923
Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to image): 9.2 x 11.8 cm (3 5/8 x 4 5/8 in.) mount: 34.3 x 27.7 cm (13 1/2 x 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Alfred Stieglitz Collection
Accession Number
1949.3.881
Art Historical Context
Alfred Stieglitz *Songs of the Sky K or H1*, likely created around 1923, captures the ethereal beauty of clouds in a gelatin silver print—a medium that revolutionized photography with its fine grain, rich tonal range, and ability to render subtle atmospheric effects. As a pioneer of modern photography, Stiegl founded the Photo-Secession in 1902 to elevate the medium to fine art status. By the 1920s, at his New York gallery "291," he shifted toward pure abstraction, producing intimate cloud studies that rejected literal representation. These works, part of Stieglitz's "Equivalents" series (192...
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 ...