Dorothy True
Photograph
Dorothy True
1919
Palladium print (Japine paper)
Image: 9 5/8 × 7 5/8 in. (24.4 × 19.4 cm)
Paper: 9 7/8 × 7 15/16 in. (25.1 × 20.2 cm)
Mount: 21 13/16 × 18 1/4 in. (55.4 × 46.4 cm)
Purchase and gift of Georgia O'Keeffe
Inscriptions Most likely inscribed in pencil by Doris Bry at time of Edward Steichen's treatment of the print [see pages 362-363 in McCabe, Constance, Christopher A. Maines, Mike Ware, and Matthew L. Clarke, "Alfred Stieglitz's Palladium Prints: Treated by Steichen," in Platinum and Palladium Photographs : Technical History, Connoisseurship, and Preservation (first edition), editied by Constance McCabe (Washington, D.C: Photographic Materials Group, American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 2017) 356–371.] on mount recto, BLC: Treated 6/50
Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, BLC: 40C
Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, BLC: 2259:15
Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, BLC: 40C
Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, BLC: 2259:15
TextThe early twentieth century saw a large cultural shift from the previous era’s ideologies and traditions. In every aspect, the definition of contemporary life was being explored. Avant-garde photography’s move from the painterly characteristics of Pictorialism to the abstract forms of Modernism coincided with the equally radical transformations in women’s fashion, such as shorter hemlines and the bob hairstyle. During this period, Alfred Stieglitz was experimenting with closely framed compositions. He found that by reducing an image to its essential formal elements, he could use a fragment of a subject to represent a larger whole. Thus, he considered this photograph to be both a portrait of Dorothy True—a friend of his wife, Georgia O’Keeffe—and the visual representation of the modern woman.
—Label text, History of Photography [Rotation 15]
—Label text, History of Photography [Rotation 15]
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