The Old Maple—Lake George
1926
Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to image): 11.7 × 9.2 cm (4 5/8 × 3 5/8 in.) mount: 34.2 × 27.5 cm (13 7/16 × 10 13/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Alfred Stieglitz Collection
Accession Number
1949.3.671
Art Historical Context
Alfred Stieglitz *The Old Maple—Lake* (1926) captures the rugged beauty of a solitary tree on the shores of Lake George, York—a place that became a profound source of inspiration for the artist during his later years. Stieglitz, a pioneering advocate for photography as fine art, spent summers at his wife Georgia O'Keeffe's family estate, producing intimate studies of nature that transcended mere documentation. This gelatin silver print, trimmed to its image edges at 11.7 × 9.2 cm, exemplifies his shift toward "straight photography," emphasizing clarity and emotional resonance over pictorialist...
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 ...