Lot 48 N

'The Steerage' pertains to the most significant photographs by Alfred Stieglitz. Due to the publication as a photogravure in 'Camera Work' in 1911, the motif attained to great acclaim. Stieglitz himself later described the photograph as his most significant work, as the quintessence of his creative activity: “I said one day, 'If all my photographs were lost and I'd be represented by just one, The Steerage, I'd be satisfied.' I'm not so sure that I don't feel much the same way today. “ (Alfred Stieglitz, in: Twice a Year, 1942, issue 8/9, p. 131). The shot was taken in June 1907 on board a passenger ship of the north German Lloyd line during the crossing from New York to Europe - a journey during which Stieglitz also visited his friend Heinrich Kühn in Innsbruck (cf. special catalogue 'Heinrich Kühn. Sechzig Photographien').