The Steerage, Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz
The Steerage
DE
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Alfred Stieglitz

The Steerage, 1907


Darstellung
33.4 x 26.6 cm
Physical Description
Photogravure on Japan paper
Inventory Number
St.F.195
Acquisition
Acquired in 2011 as a gift from Uta and Wilfried Wiegand, property of Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V.
Status
Not on display

Texts

About the Work

On this journey, Stieglitz is travelling from New York back to the Old World. He is fascinated by the disappointed faces of the expelled immigrants. Stieglitz’s first-class ticket places him on the opposite side of those travelling in steerage, and it was from there that he photographed the activities of the returnees. What at first glance appears to be a snapshot is in fact a carefully composed photograph: the man in the straw hat looking down, the mother carrying her child in her arms, the iron architecture of the vessel – a picture of the shattered American dream.

About the Acquisition

The Städelscher Museums-Verein acquired the photographic collection of Uta and Wilfried Wiegand with the financial support of the Kulturstiftung der Länder and the Hessische Kulturstiftung. The museum also received part of the collection as a gift from the owners. Consisting of some 200 photographs from the nineteenth century and Classic Modernism, the Wiegand Collection is one of the most important photo collections worldwide. Assembled since the 1970s, the collection provides an outstanding record of the development of photography as a medium.

Audio

  • Basic information
    01:16
  • Focus on art history
    01:47

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
The Steerage
Photographer
Period Produced
Object Type
Physical Description
Photogravure on Japan paper
Material
Technique

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Eigentum des Städelschen Museums-Vereins e.V.
Picture Copyright
Public Domain
Acquisition
Acquired in 2011 as a gift from Uta and Wilfried Wiegand, property of Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V.

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

Primary
  • 46C216 parts of ship's interior
  • 46C272 passengers ~ ship
  • 55BB1 Poverty; 'Povertà', 'Povertà del doni', 'Povertà in uno ch'habbia bell'ingegno' (Ripa)

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Last update

08.12.2023