On View at the Research Center: O’Keeffe and Stieglitz

This week I have been processing materials from a new photography collection and have come across several small photographs of O’Keeffe and Stieglitz at Lake George. The fascinating relationship shared between O’Keeffe and Stieglitz is a regular topic here and these photographs reminded me of our current exhibition of O’Keeffe and Stieglitz materials on display in the Research Center reading room, which is soon to end.

Many of the selected books on display come from Georgia O’Keeffe’s personal book collection.  O’Keeffe sought out and purchased certain publications, while others came from Alfred Stieglitz’s book collection or were given by friends and admirers. Several books have ephemera, photographs or notes tucked inside, or inscriptions from Stieglitz to O’Keeffe.

The first display case focuses on Alfred Stieglitz as an American photographer, writer, editor and art impresario. He promoted pictorial photography and modern art during his time as editor of Camera Notes and Camera Work. He led the Photo-Secessionists and organized numerous pioneering exhibitions in the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession (later known as 291) from 1905 to 1917, The Anderson Galleries (1923 – 1925), The Intimate Gallery (1925 – 1929) and An American Place (1929 – 1946). We are fortunate to have several of his publications in our collection featuring beautiful high-quality photogravures.

The second display case focuses on the connection between Stieglitz and O’Keeffe: books sent to O’Keeffe early on in their relationship with meaningful and lengthy inscriptions by Stieglitz; ephemera from early exhibitions at Stieglitz’s galleries where he worked tirelessly to promote O’Keeffe and her work; an affectionate letter exchanged; and early sketches by O’Keeffe.

A special thanks to Tori Duggan who was amazing to collaborate with on organizing, selecting and describing the materials on display. I’m looking forward to a new exhibition of library and archives materials this spring!

Liz Ehrnst, Archives and Digital Collections Librarian