Stieglitz, Urban Dreamer, In New Exhibit At MFA

Champion of photography as art, pioneer gallery operator, husband of the prodigiously talented Georgia O'Keeffe--these are but a few views of the career of Alfred Stieglitz. Now showing at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, a well-rounded, varied exhibition presents Stieglitz's accomplishments in various modes, artistic and professional, with the added treat of works by several key contemporaries (not the least of whom is O'Keeffe herself). The appreciation of Stieglitz and his photography in the context of his time, without excessive social commentary, lends an instant appeal to the presentation.

As the show explains, the Museum draws upon its own extensive collection of Stieglitz's works, many of which O'Keeffe donated, in addition to several recently acquired Stieglitz portraits of O'Keeffe. The show itself holds no small value as a highlighting of stieglitz's importance as one of the foremost introducers of modernism to America. Considering Stieglitz exposed Americans to several works of Picasso, Brancusi, and the like for the first time, his impact becomes understandable, as does the MFA's contextual presentation.

Stieglitz's own work appears here in a range from his early, somewhat ethereal views of New York City streets to his more abstract works in later life, which center around nature studies at his home on Lake George. Besides providing pleasingly varied conceptions of physical and environmental beauty, such a selection allows one to tend toward a long-range view of Stieglitz's experience of life: moving into and out of gritty, urban portraits, towards more pacific, introspective works looking skywards.

His later abstract works, the "Equivalents" (1929), provide a cushy counterpoint to such harder, clearly delineated concrete scenes. In a sense, Stieglitz taps into the age-old game of lying in the grass and picking out shapes in the sky, but with a deeper, vaguely solemn intent, as if to part the layers of nimbus and cumulus. His progression from works clearly grounded in the straightforward city to such abstraction in a sense reflects Stieglitz's attempts to broaden the "purpose" of photography.

But whatever the symbolism of his later abstraction, perhaps Stieglitz's greatest accomplishment lies closer to home: his stunning series of portraits of his wife, O'Keeffe (1917-1937). Applying a knowing eye yet avoiding any familiar pithiness, Stieglitz brings out the distinctions of O'Keeffe's personality just enough for us to be curious for more. Now from a side view, now with her hands placed carefully to her neck, O'Keeffe's face across her life lies before us.

Stieglitz's other accomplishments in running a gallery and the like are not to be missed, and the museum kindly provides several of his own letters from the time. Selections from photographers whom he supported--Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, etc.--round off the museum's own portrait of Stieglitz and his time. Fans of O'Keeffe will also enjoy the half-dozen or so of her works added as a bonus, which contribute to the shades of avant-garde atmosphere ("Mommy, I've never seen a flower quite like that before").

Providing an always welcome glance at one of America's foremost photographers, the Stieglitz exhibit provides an enjoyable welcome to the fall season of exhibits.