The Dying Chestnut, 1919

Key Set Entry

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Remarks

“There is a great Chestnut Tree up on the Hill—some 150 yards behind the house.—It’s a majestic fellow attended only further down—not too near, by a smaller tree.—Possibly a concubine.—Well, the old fellow has been dying for some years. — And as the end nears he seems to become more majestic—more magnificent. It’s the tree I photographed last year. — A cry of the Human Soul—unheard—alone —” (Stieglitz to John Marin, 2 November 1920 [YCAL]).

In 1924 Georgia O’Keeffe made paintings of the same tree. See The Chestnut Red and The Chestnut Grey (Lynes 472 and 473).

Stieglitz Collections

A corresponding print was given to the following institution(s) by Alfred Stieglitz during his lifetime, or was received or acquired from the estate:

The Art Institute of Chicago, 1949.770

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:

1921, New York (no. 81, as The Dying Chestnut, 1919)

Inscription

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, upper left verso, in graphite: Exhibition

by later hand, on mount, upper right verso, in graphite: no. 81 (formerly 81 - 107, - 107 erased)

by Georgia O'Keeffe, on mount, lower left verso, in graphite: 18 C

Provenance

Georgia O'Keeffe; gift to NGA, 1949.

Bibliography

1991

Peters, Sarah Whitaker. Becoming O'Keeffe: The Early Years. New York, 1991: pl. 58.

2002

Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 617.

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