By photographing clouds, Stieglitz meant to demonstrate how "to hold a moment, how to record something so completely, that all who see [the picture of it] will relive an equivalent of what has been expressed." Stieglitz's choice of intangible vapors as his ostensible subject was telling, for the vagueness of transcendental meaning is not easily sustained by material objects. Whether his equivalents achieved their goal is a question each viewer must answer for himself or herself; that they demonstrated the ineffable dimension of inspiration is without doubt.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Equivalent No. 314
Artist:Alfred Stieglitz (American, Hoboken, New Jersey 1864–1946 New York)
Date:1926
Medium:Gelatin silver print
Dimensions:11.9 x 9.1 cm (4 11/16 x 3 9/16 in.)
Classification:Photographs
Credit Line:Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987
Accession Number:1987.1100.457
Inscription: Inscribed in pencil on mount, verso UC: "Top"; inscribed in pencil on mount, verso C: "2";
Stieglitz to Anita Pollitzer; possibly Lee Witkin; [Edwynn Houk to Waddell, March 25, 1984]; John C. Waddell
Brooklyn Museum. "International Exhibition of Modern Art: Assembled by Société Anonyme," November 19, 1926–January 1, 1927.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 23–December 31, 1989.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 28–April 22, 1990.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 10–July 15, 1990.
High Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 5–April 28, 1991.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 8–August 4, 1991.
IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia. "The New Vision, IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia," January 20, 1995–March 26, 1995.
Alfred Stieglitz (American, Hoboken, New Jersey 1864–1946 New York)
1932
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