Lot Essay
A component of Stieglitz' extended "Portrait" of Georgia O'Keeffe, the Torso offered here is one of many studies the photographer made early in their collaboration. O'Keeffe became Stieglitz' primary subject almost as soon as she arrived from Texas, suffering from influenza and escorted by Paul Strand in June, 1918. For the next four years Stieglitz engaged his model in a substantial series of photographs which can be summed up only by considering each individual picture in the context of a broader, more complete view.
While Stieglitz continued to photograph O'Keeffe until the mid-1930s, the nature of the pictures changed after 1922 or '23. No longer would O'Keeffe be portrayed in the intimate terms of a newly liberated, sexual relationship. The complicity between photographer and model was altered by the simultaneous relationships they shared as husband and wife and as artists. In this regard, O'Keeffe's role in creating the "Portrait" is as significant as that of the man exposing the film.
In Georgia O'Keeffe: A Portrait - Torso the casual and relaxed pose contradicts the intensity in which the extended portrait was undertaken. The abstracted torso is replete with a motif of repeated circular forms, from her navel to the implied circumference of the tucked limbs. It seems to celebrate the very essence of Womanhood Stieglitz sought to define through photographing O'Keeffe. Compositionally, Torso relates to the first poses from a year earlier. O'Keeffe was a willing subject from the start and the first photographs made in front of her drawings at '291' equate the artist with her work. In, Torso, photographed in the cramped quarters the new lovers shared with Stieglitz' sister Elizabeth at 114 East 59th Street, the background is implied by the receding arms, flowing into a form reminescent of O'Keeffe's own work. It is as if Stieglitz was stating visually, the woman is her art.
The print offered here is the third of only three prints known. The other two, palladium and a platinum print, are both in the Key Set collection at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
While Stieglitz continued to photograph O'Keeffe until the mid-1930s, the nature of the pictures changed after 1922 or '23. No longer would O'Keeffe be portrayed in the intimate terms of a newly liberated, sexual relationship. The complicity between photographer and model was altered by the simultaneous relationships they shared as husband and wife and as artists. In this regard, O'Keeffe's role in creating the "Portrait" is as significant as that of the man exposing the film.
In Georgia O'Keeffe: A Portrait - Torso the casual and relaxed pose contradicts the intensity in which the extended portrait was undertaken. The abstracted torso is replete with a motif of repeated circular forms, from her navel to the implied circumference of the tucked limbs. It seems to celebrate the very essence of Womanhood Stieglitz sought to define through photographing O'Keeffe. Compositionally, Torso relates to the first poses from a year earlier. O'Keeffe was a willing subject from the start and the first photographs made in front of her drawings at '291' equate the artist with her work. In, Torso, photographed in the cramped quarters the new lovers shared with Stieglitz' sister Elizabeth at 114 East 59th Street, the background is implied by the receding arms, flowing into a form reminescent of O'Keeffe's own work. It is as if Stieglitz was stating visually, the woman is her art.
The print offered here is the third of only three prints known. The other two, palladium and a platinum print, are both in the Key Set collection at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.