Songs of the Sky or Equivalent
1923/1927
Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to image): 9 x 11.4 cm (3 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.) mount: 34.9 x 27.6 cm (13 3/4 x 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Alfred Stieglitz Collection
Accession Number
1949.3.1028
Art Historical Context
Alfred Stieglitz's *Songs of the Sky or* (1923/1927) is a captivating gelatin silver print from his groundbreaking "Equivalents" series, he captured clouds not as mere landscapes but as abstract expressions of emotion. A pioneer of modern photography and founder of the Photo-Sec movement, Stiegl elevated the medium to fine art in the early 20th century. small—9 x 11.4 cm on a 34.9 x 27.6 cm mount—this intimate image invites close contemplation, its trimmed edges emphasizing the pure form of the sky. In the "Equivalents," Stieglitz sought to evoke inner states akin to music or poetry, challeng...
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 ...