Charles Demuth, 1915

Key Set Entry

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Remarks

Between 1904 and 1914 the Philadelphia-trained painter Charles Demuth made three long trips to Paris where he became familiar with the latest developments in modern European art. He began to visit 291 as early as 1909, but did not meet Stieglitz until 1912 when Marsden Hartley urged him to introduce himself. Stieglitz included Demuth’s work in the 1925 “Seven Americans” exhibition at the Anderson Galleries and thereafter mounted frequent shows of his paintings and watercolors at the Intimate Gallery and An American Place. Demuth drew great sustenance from the photographer’s support. As Georgia O’Keeffe later noted, “Stieglitz was probably a bit of a steadying hand on [Demuth’s] shoulder. They had a faith in common that neither found too often elsewhere” (as quoted in Emily Farnham, Charles Demuth: Behind a Laughing Mask, Norman, 1971, 166).

In the background of this photograph and Key Set numbers 395, 396, and 397 is Picasso’s charcoal drawing Head of a Man, 1912 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), exhibited at 291 from 12 to 26 January 1915.

Other Collections

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

Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington

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:

1944, Philadelphia (no. 176, as Charles Demuth, 1915)

Inscription

by Alfred Stieglitz, on mount, center left verso, in graphite: Chas. Demurt [sic] 1915 / Exhibition [crossed out] by Stieglitz [underlined]

by George O'Keeffe, on mount, bottom left verso, in graphite: 82 B

by later hand, lower right, in graphite: 7-1944-349; bottom right verso, in graphite: 7-1944-349.

Provenance

Georgia O'Keeffe; gift to NGA, 1949.

Exhibition History

1983

Photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, February 3–May 8, 1983; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, June 17–August 14, 1983; The Art Institute of Chicago, October 18, 1983–January 3, 1984

2001

Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2001

2004

Alfred Stieglitz and His Circle: 1905–1930, Musée d'Orsay, Paris; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2004–2005

Bibliography

1983

Greenough, Sarah, and Juan Hamilton. Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings. Washington, 1983: no. 56, pl. 28.

1998

Ludington, Townsend. Marsden Hartley: The Biography of an American Artist. 2nd ed. Ithaca and London, 1998: n.p.

2000

Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001: no. 133.

2002

Greenough, Sarah. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Washington, 2002: vol. 1, cat. 394.

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