American Masters - Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye

American Masters - Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye
by Perry Miller Adato

Our Price: $149.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases

DVD Cover Information

Movie Reviews of American Masters - Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye

Movie Review: A New Vision for a Modern World
Summary: 5 Stars

In 1893, we find Stieglitz in New York City, where he begins his struggle to help make the practice of photography become recognized as a serious form of artistic expression. By 1902, along with a group of accomplished photographers, he formed an organization called the Photo Secession. Their highly coveted publication, "Camera Work", was propagated throughout the city by word of mouth.

From 1902 to 1907, Stieglitz championed the work of other photographers, rather than his own work, in a new gallery at 291 5th avenue. Gradually, the gallery shows began to include works of new painters from Europe, in addition to those first works of the New York photographers. An early exhibit of the work of Picasso at "291" in 1911, was Picasso's first one-man show in the United States.

With the American involvement in World War I during 1917, Gallery 291 closed and the publication of "Camera Work" ceased. Stieglitz's correspondence with painter Georgia O'Keeffe helped to sustain him through these emotionally difficult years of social isolation. In 1922, O'Keefe and Stieglitz were married. Stieglitz made approximately 300 intimate portraits of O'Keeffe around this time, creating one of the first deeply devotional photographic portrait series ever attempted.

With the advent of the great depression, Stieglitz's anarchist sensibilities began to clash with the collectivist mood of the time. This led to a body of profoundly elegiac portraits of New York City, completed during the later years of his life. In 1937, Stieglitz laid down his camera, abandoning further photography. He died during the year 1946.

This documentary details the work of an astonishing range of visual artists and writers whose lives were intertwined with the life of Alfred Stieglitz. It allows each artist to "speak the truth as they see it" and will make a welcome addition to any comprehensive study on the history of modern art.

Summary of American Masters - Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye