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Alfred Stieglitz, L'accoucheur d'idées (The Midwife to Ideas)

ca. 1908–9
Not on view
The Met owns six de Zayas caricature drawings of Alfred Stieglitz, ranging in date from about 1908 to 1915. Some are completely abstract, others more realistic, yet all convey a salient aspect of Stieglitz's physical appearance, personal magnetism, intellectual prowess, or creative genius. Here, in this dark and mysterious charcoal drawing, where figure and ground merge into blackness, Stieglitz's leonine head is illuminated by a white circle of undrawn paper that transforms him into a religious icon. Such dramatic lighting was perhaps inspired by Steichen's photographic portraits of a few years earlier. This drawing may have been included in de Zayas's first exhibition at 291, in January 1909. One critic noted that Stieglitz was "ready and willing to take his own medicine [as] demonstrated by the appearance of a most formidable likeness of himself . . . and De Zayas flatters no one, not even his discoverer." When this caricature was later reproduced in Camera Work in April 1912, it was newly entitled L'Accoucheur d'Idées (The Midwife to Ideas).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Alfred Stieglitz, L'accoucheur d'idées (The Midwife to Ideas)
  • Artist: Marius de Zayas (Mexican, Veracruz 1880–1961 Stamford, Connecticut)
  • Date: ca. 1908–9
  • Medium: Charcoal and graphite on paper
  • Dimensions: 24 3/4 × 19 1/8 in. (62.9 × 48.6 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949
  • Object Number: 49.70.192
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Alfred Stieglitz, Marius de Zayas Mexican, Brush and black ink, ink wash, and copper metallic paint over graphite on paper
Alfred Stieglitz
Marius de Zayas
1910
John Marin and Alfred Stieglitz, Marius de Zayas Mexican, Charcoal and graphite on paper
John Marin and Alfred Stieglitz
Marius de Zayas
ca. 1912–13
Alfred Stieglitz, Marius de Zayas Mexican, Brush and black ink over graphite on paper
Alfred Stieglitz
Marius de Zayas
1910
Cover Design for "291" (journal), Marius de Zayas Mexican, Black ink, watercolor, graphite, and white correction fluid with collage of cut paper on board
Cover Design for "291" (journal)
Marius de Zayas
1915
Alfred Stieglitz, Marius de Zayas Mexican, Charcoal on paper
Alfred Stieglitz
Marius de Zayas
ca. 1912–13

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