Skip to Main Content

 Admission is always freeOpen today: 10:00  to 5:00  Directions             Play Artle            

                  -  Visit                      - Visit
                    - Getting Here
                    - Accessibility
                    - Tours, Guides & Maps
                    - Food & Drink
                    - Gallery Shops
                    - Visitor Policies 
                  -  Collection                      - Collection
                    - Highlights
                    - Search the Collection
                    - Artists Search
                    - Acquisition Highlights
                    - Stories 
                  -  Exhibitions                      - Exhibitions
                    - Current
                    - Special Installations
                    - Upcoming
                    - On Tour
                    - Past 
                  -  Calendar                      - Calendar
                    - Films
                    - Performances
                    - Talks
                    - Guided Tours
                    - After Hours
                    - Fun for Kids
                    - Festivals
                    - Workshops 
                  -  Learn                      - Learn
                    - Teachers
                    - Families
                    - Teens
                    - Adults
                    - Learning Resources
                    - Music Programs
                    - Film Programs 
                  -  Conservation                      - Conservation
                    - Projects
                    - Publications
                    - Resources 
                  -  Research                      - Research
                    - The Center
                    - Publications
                    - Make an Appointment
                    - Archives
                    - Library
                    - NGA Online Editions 
                  -  Support                      - Support
                    - Donate Now
                    - National Membership
                    - Circle Membership
                    - Leadership Groups
                    - Planned Giving
                    - Major Giving
                    - Gifts of Art 
                  -  Shop                      - Shop
                    - Books
                    - Jewelry
                    - Apparel & Accessories
                    - Kids
                    - NGA Custom Prints 
                  -  Play Artle

Home>Research>Online Editions>Alfred Stieglitz Key Set>Stieglitz Career Overview: Early Europe, 1886–1894

          NGA Online Editions                        Alfred Stieglitz Key Set                

Early Europe, 1886–1894

Early New York, 1890–1904

The 291 Years, 1905–1917

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918–1920

The 1920s

The 1930s

Highlights of the Key Set

Browse the Key Set by Subject

Search the Key Set

# Stieglitz Career Overview: Early Europe, 1886–1894

*Mark Levitch*

Alfred Stieglitz, *The Last Joke—Bellagio or A Good Joke*, 1887, platinum print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949.3.30Key Set number 33

Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1864, Alfred Stieglitz began studying photography while a mechanical engineering student in Berlin. His teacher, Professor Hermann Wilhelm Vogel (Key Set number 1), an expert in photographic science and practice, encouraged Stieglitz to investigate the medium’s properties and possibilities by tackling a range of subjects, including landscape, portraiture, architecture, genre studies, and the reproduction of artworks (Key Set number 30).

Deeply influenced by German popular painting of the time—which often focused on picturesque rural scenes of daily life—Stieglitz traveled around Europe from 1886 to 1890 in search of similar subject matter to photograph. Some of his scenes are melodramatic (Key Set number 42) or sentimental (Key Set number 62), but others capture more spontaneous moments (Key Set number 33).

Alfred Stieglitz, *A Street in Sterzing, The Tyrol*, 1890, platinum print with mercury, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949.3.64Key Set number 72

The most innovative works from this period—and those that presage his future development—evince Stieglitz’s nuanced exploration of patterns of light and shade in both interior (Key Set number 60) and exterior settings (Key Set number 72).

Stieglitz moved to New York in 1890, but he returned to Europe for his honeymoon in 1894 a more practiced and directed photographer—and one determined to demonstrate photography’s bona fides as a fine art. His complex composition of a rainy street scene in Paris is suffused with atmosphere and texture (Key Set number 114). His views of Katwijk ennoble the Dutch fishing village’s hardworking people, who, in traditional costume, appear untouched by modernity (Key Set number 212). In Venice, he made several photographs of the canals and their abstractly patterned reflections (Key Set number 152). Stieglitz, a master of printing, initially produced many of these works as lush, large-scale carbon prints and somewhat later as photogravures. Exhibited and reproduced widely, the works from his 1894 trip established Stieglitz as one of the leading photographers of the time.

Alfred Stieglitz, *The Net Mender*, 1894, carbon print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949.3.199Key Set number 212

Despite the success these photographs brought him, Stieglitz later destroyed most of his early European works—likely because their old-fashioned, “painterly” sensibility deviated from the modernist path he later traced for himself. More than three-quarters of the vintage prints in the Key Set made before 1896 likely escaped this fate because they are contained in four bound albums, each titled *Sun Prints*(1895–1896), which he gave to family members. The Key Set also includes two smaller albums from this early period: *Freienwalde a. O.* (1886), which chronicles a humorous outing with fellow students, and *A Souvenir of Summer* (1886), which records a family vacation in Mittenwald, Germany.

Next: Early New York, 1890–1904

### Stay connected

Learn more about our exhibitions, news, programs, and special offers.

About
          - About the National Gallery
          - Stories
          - Press
          - FAQs
          - Contact Us

Plan a Visit
          - Getting Here
          - Accessibility
          - Today's Tours
          - Food & Drink
          - Calendar
          - Downloadable Map

Get Involved
          - Donate
          - Membership
          - Volunteer
          - Opportunities
          - Shop Online

Resources
          - Search the Collection
          - Conservation
          - Library
          - Archives
          - The Center
          - Film Programs
          - Music Programs
          - Audio/Video
          - Open Access Images

Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily

**West Building**6th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter or exit from Constitution Avenue, 4th Street, or 7th Street. The Madison Drive entrance is currently closed.*

**East Building**4th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 4th Street.*

**Sculpture Garden**7th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 7th Street, Constitution Avenue, or Madison Drive.*

We are closed on December 25 and January 1.

*The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.*

          -  Twitter 
          -  Facebook 
          -  Instagram 
          -  Pinterest 
          -  YouTube 

© 2024 National Gallery of Art   Notices   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy