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The Importance of Photography ( a new medium) as an Art Form

© Gretchen Wms. Jurek

National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.

Although I had intended this article to be only on Stieglitz, I found so much more, and it just took off, out of my control. I hope you will find it to be as interesting as I have.

Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Steichen, and many others

The Importance of Photography as an Art Form.
Alfred Stieglitz as a Leader of the Modern Art movement.

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has provided this on-line exhibition for those of us who are not able to get to D.C. for a tour, and for those who missed the show while it was in their galleries. Lots of text, lots of photos. True, this is a lot of reading, but print it out and learn some new things. I did!

Alfred Stieglitz was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1864. His parents were German immigrants to the US. When he was just seventeen, Stieglitz was sent off to Germany to study engineering (1881), but he discovered photography, a relatively new-fangled invention, and became fascinated with it. He returned to the US in 1890, to become one of the most important figures, not just in photography, but in the earliest twinges of a movement which would be Modern Art. (His parents must have been dismayed! How impractical!)

The news release which was issued on December 18, 2000, by the National Gallery of Art, in advance of the opening of this important exhibit, gives an excellent overview. http://www.nga.gov/xio/maa_stiegpr.htm

Since the actual on-site exhibition closed at the National on April 22, 2001, we can go on a virtual tour, and you don't have to keep up with the rest of the crowd of viewers.

Remember to click on the underlined words (hyperlinks).

Now occurring on your computer screen, Stieglitz http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/modart_1.... This hyperlink will take you to the exhibition brochure, with appropriate information.

This link, http://www.nga.gov/feature/stieglitz/5in... is the introduction to the exhibit, and has some photographic portraits of Stieglitz, one of which (at least) happens to be a self-portrait, with his very large moustache, the same kind my very old-world great-grandfather had. I remember it well.

And here is a companion piece, on Steichen – painter first, and photographer second. (Surprised?) http://www.nga.gov/feature/artnation/ste...

And just to knock your socks off and make you wish you lived in D.C., take a look at the Upcoming Exhibitions! http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/upcoming....

I have little commentary this time, because I think it all speaks very well for itself; the National has explained so much more so much better than I ever could.

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