Stieglitz and Pictorialism

Alfred Stieglitz. The Hand of Man, 1902. 

"Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864–1946) tirelessly promoted photography as a fine art. Through his own photographic work over the course of a half-century, the photographic journals he edited and published, and the New York galleries at which he organized exhibitions of photographs, paintings, and sculpture, Stieglitz showed photography to be an integral part of modern art in America. In a search for artistic ancestors, he looked intently at photography of the 19th century, most notably that of Julia Margaret Cameron and the Scottish duo David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson. Their work resonated for Pictorialism, a movement that valued painterly, handcrafted images, and these earlier photographs were exhibited and reprinted for new audiences. Stieglitz’s fledgling interest to create a history of photography as an art form was also evidenced in his decision, later in his career, to revisit his own prior output, reprinting earlier images in a high modernist style."

"Alfred Stieglietz and the 19th Century," exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, through March 27, 2016.

For those of you who happen to be around Chicago  ;)