Catalogue
Catalogue
Object Type
Name/Title
Alfred Stieglitz
Primary Maker
Physical Description
1 bookplate : col. ; 10 cm. x 8 cm. (image), 23 cm. x 20 cm. (paper) ; wood engraving
Level of Current Record
Child
Subject Category
Public Access Text
Included in the exhibition "Every picture tells a story : exquisite ex libris, 1900-1950 ('Readers, Thinkers, Dreamers')" held at Auckland War Memorial Museum, 7 September - 28 October 2007.
Subject Notes
A true pioneer in the field of photography, Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) is responsible for raising photography to an art form. One of the founders on the Photo-Secession, a group of avant-garde photographers, he later directed the Photo-Secession gallery at 291 Fifth Avenue in New York. This visionary gallery, often referred to simply as 291, showed the work of contemporary photographers as well as such painters as Picasso, Matisse, and Toulouse-Lautrec.
Allen Lewis (1873-1957) was a wood engraver. He regarded each of his bookplates as experiments whose designs grew out of his client's specific needs. To achieve the effects he wanted, Lewis often fashioned his own printmaking tools from such unconventional materials as bicycle spokes, forks, and crochet needles. He felt strongly that while bookplates should be both well-designed and personal, they should not be too complex, for, as he cautioned, "a bookplate is primarily a label, so this use should not be lost sight of. On his bookplates he did indeed create designs which were distinctive, yet suitable for his clients' needs. He remained constantly aware of the limitations as well as the possibilities of these small-scale art works.
Copyright
Copyright undetermined - untraced rights owner
Last Update
06 Dec 2022
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