The Flatiron
1903, printed 1920/39
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image/paper/first mount: 12 × 8.4 cm (4 3/4 × 3 5/16 in.); Second mount: 32 × 24.8 cm (12 5/8 × 9 13/16 in.)
Classification
gelatin silver (developing-out-paper) pr
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
66315
Art Historical Context
Alfred Stieglitz's *The Flatiron*, captured in 1903 and printed later between 1920 and 1939, stands as a landmark in early 20th-century photography. This gelatin silver print immortalizes New York's iconic Flatiron Building—named for its wedge-like shape—at a moment when skyscrapers were redefining the urban skyline. Stiegl, a pioneering advocate for photography as fine art, photographed the structure amid swirling mist and twilight, ev a sense of mystery and amid the city's rapid transformation. Printed on gelatin silver developing-out paper, the image exemplifies the technical advancements ...
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 ...