The Dying Chestnut Tree (Dead Tree, Lake George)
Alfred Stieglitz, American, 1864 - 1946
1927
Gelatin silver print mounted on card
Sheet: 9 1/4 × 6 1/16 in. (23.5 × 15.4 cm)
Sheet: 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Louise (Weezie) and John (Launny) Steffens, Class of 1963, Class of 1991P
2019.15
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Inscriptions
Signed, titled, and inscribed, in graphite, on original backing: Dead Tree - Lake George / (original print) / Alfred Stieglitz [underlined with slightly scrolled form]; labeled, on frame backing, lower right: BONNI / BENRUBI / GALLERY, INC [centered gallery logo, each line underlined] / Alfred Stieglitz [in bold] / Dead Tree, Lake George, circa 1925 [underlined] / Gelatin silver print / Signature and title on card [label information adjusted left] / 52 EAST 76th STREET / NEW YORK, NY 10021 [centered, line above address]
Label
After working in New York City for decades, pioneering photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz returned to his family home on Lake George, New York, turning his lens toward nature. As his health began to fail and his relationship with artist Georgia O’Keeffe faltered, Stieglitz continued to revisit this American chestnut, capturing its magisterial form, which remained undiminished in death. This mournful portrait of a tree, barren and dying, suggests a personal identification between artist and subject.
From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Course History
ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022
GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022
Exhibition History
Art for Dartmouth, Citrin Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, August 14-November 25, 2019.
This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 12 - July 22, 2022.
Provenance
The Estate of Alfred Stieglitz; to Doris Bry (1923-2014); to Daniel Wolf, New York, New York; to Bonni Benrubi Gallery Inc., New York, New York; sold to John and Louise Steffens, New York, New York, about 1980s; given to present collection, 2019.
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