The Net Mender

Photography and Media

1894

Alfred Stieglitz
American, 1864–1946

In an 1899 article, Stieglitz singled out The Net Mender as his favorite of his own photographs: “It expresses the life of a young Dutch woman: every stitch in the mending of the fishing net, the very rudiment of her existence, brings forth a torrent of poetic thoughts in those who watch her sit there on the vast and seemingly endless dunes, toiling with that seriousness and peacefulness which is so characteristic of these sturdy people.” He noted that the exhibition prints were printed at the scale seen here because “the subject needs size to fully express it.”

For more on the Alfred Stieglitz collection at the Art Institute, along with in-depth object information, please visit the website: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Photography and Media

Artist: Alfred Stieglitz
Title: The Net Mender
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1894
Medium: Carbon print
Inscriptions: Signed recto, lower right, on image, in graphite: "Alfred Stieglitz / 1899[?]"; inscribed verso, on mount, lower left, in graphite: "Alfred Stieglitz / The Net Mender, 1894. / Leica #67B / The Alfred Stieglitz Collection"; verso, on mount, upper right, in graphite: framing diagram; verso, on mount, along right edge, sidways: "Stieglitz / [illegible] / Oak / [illegible] #XXVI / [illegible] 16 1/8 x 21"
Dimensions: Image: 41.8 × 54.3 cm (16 1/2 × 21 7/16 in.); Paper/mount: 42 × 54.5 cm (16 9/16 × 21 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Alfred Stieglitz Collection
Reference Number: 1949.690
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/66261/manifest.json

Travis, David. 1982. “Photography in Chicago Collections.” Exh. cat. The Art Institute of Chicago. p. 23.
Homer, William Innes. 1984. “Pictorial photography in Philadelphia: the Pennsylvania Academy’s salons, 1898-1901” Exh. cat. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. p. 18.
Barter, Judith A. 2009. “Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago.” Exh. cat. the Art Institute of Chicago. ch. 4, fig. 16, pl. 147.
Matthew S. Witkovsky et al., “The Art Institute of Chicago Field Guide to Photography and Media,” eds. Antawan I. Byrd, Elizabeth Siegel, and Carl Fuldner, pl. 87, p. 108 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2023).

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, “Pictorial Photography in Philadelphia,” March 9-April 18, 1984.
Chicago, Illinois, Art Institute of Chicago, “A History of Photography from Chicago Collection,” April 24–June 6, 1982.
Art Institute of Chicago, “Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago,” November 7, 2009–January 31, 2010. (Judith Barter)
Art Institute of Chicago, “Alfred Stieglitz and the 19th Century,” October 31, 2015-March 27, 2016.
Art Institute of Chicago, “A Field Guide to Photography and Media,” Nov. 10, 2022–Apr. 10, 2023.

The Alfred Stieglitz Collection

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