A Wet Day on the Boulevard
1894
Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)
Not on View

More than any other individual, Stieglitz is responsible for the early development of modern photography in America. Through his numerous and overlapping roles as artist, founder, and curator of some of the most avant-garde galleries in America, Stieglitz inspired generations of photographers to devote their lives to the medium. He encouraged all styles of fine art photography, including that of the soft-focus pictorialists and the "straight" photography that he himself practiced. This early image recalls the photographs of the pictorialists, who were known for altering their photographic images to achieve illusory effects reminiscent of those found in painting. However, Stieglitz did not alter his photographs. Instead, he attained the mysterious atmospheric effects in his photographs by waiting for outside conditions to provide them naturally. In this way, he formed a bridge between pictorialism and the emerging "straight" photographic movement.

Details

  • Artist Name: Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)
  • Title: A Wet Day on the Boulevard
  • Date: 1894
  • Medium: Photogravure
  • Dimensions: Image: 6-1/8 x 11 in. (15.9 x 27.9 cm); Paper: 15-1/2 x 20 in. (39.4 x 50.8 cm)
  • Credit Line: Norton Simon Museum, Gift of Mrs. Edward C. Crossett
  • Accession Number: PH.1958.1.10
  • Copyright: © Norton Simon Museum

Object Information

Selections from the Gifts of Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Crossett to the Pasadena Art Museum

  • Pasadena Art Museum, 1970-12-17 to 1973-01-07

A Tribute to Frederick Sommer, 1905-1999

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1999-12-22 to 2000-03-26

Nature Studies: Photographs by Modern Masters

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1989-10-05 to 1990-02-11
  • Gloria Williams, The Collectible Moment: Catalogue of Photographs in the Norton Simon Museum, 2006, cat. 381 p. 253

Additional Artwork by Artist

Goats at River's Bank Alfred Stieglitz 1894
The Glow of Night-New York Alfred Stieglitz 1897
Venetian Canal Alfred Stieglitz 1897

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