Music—A Sequence of Ten Cloud Photographs, No. III

1922

Alfred Stieglitz

Associated Names
Alfred Stieglitz

Artist, American, 1864 - 1946

The image depicts a view looking up towards the sky with a silhouette of hills below. The horizon is near the lower part of the image, with hills lined by trees. The sky occupies most of the composition, showing textured cloud formations. The color palette is monochromatic sepia tones, emphasizing light and shadow. The scene appears calm yet dramatic, capturing a moment of natural beauty at dusk or dawn.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    palladium print

  • Credit Line

    Alfred Stieglitz Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 19.5 x 24.1 cm (7 11/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
    sheet: 20.2 x 25.4 cm (7 15/16 x 10 in.)
    mat: 56.5 x 46.3 cm (22 1/4 x 18 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.3.831

  • Stieglitz Estate Number

    27D

    Part of Stieglitz Key Set Online Edition

    Learn more

  • Key Set Number

    795

The image shows a man leaning his head on his hand, positioned with his face resting on his left hand. He has a mustache, thin-framed eyeglasses, and thick, greying hair that curls slightly at the edges. He is dressed in a formal jacket, a white shirt, and a black bow tie. The background is a soft, dark blur.

Alfred Stieglitz

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Georgia O'Keeffe; gift to NGA, 1949.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2010

  • Alfred Stieglitz: The Lake George Years, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2010

Bibliography

2002

  • Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 795.

2010

  • Annear, Judy, ed. Alfred Stieglitz: The Lake George Years. Exh. cat. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2010.

Inscriptions

by later hands, center verso, in graphite: K / 27D
by Doris Bry, on mount, lower left: Treated by Steichen 1949; lower left verso: 27D

Wikidata ID

Q64035854

Scholarly Remarks and Key Set Data

Remarks

The titles of this photograph and the following Key Set numbers are based on those used for Stieglitz’s 1923 exhibition at the Anderson Galleries: 792, 793, 794, 796, 797, 798, 799, 800, 801, and 802.

They are numbered according to Stieglitz’s inscriptions on the Gallery’s prints and those included as part of the 1924 gift to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This series was probably made between late August and October 1922.

Other Collections

A print corresponding with this photograph can also be found in the following collection(s):

Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1970-241-10 (inscribed: Clouds—Music—No. 3 / Alfred Stieglitz / 1922)

Lifetime Exhibitions

A print from the same negative—perhaps a photograph from the Gallery’s collection—appeared in the following exhibition(s) during Alfred Stieglitz’s lifetime:

1923, New York (nos. 78–87, as Music—A Sequence of Ten Cloud Photographs, 1922)

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