184

"I have a few photographs . . . but I doubt that they will give me a loaf of bread"

Alfred Stieglitz

Small archive of 4 Autograph Letters Signed, in full or "Stieglitz," to Joseph Rudolph,

mentioning Georgia O'Keefe's exhibition of paintings at The Room [the small gallery in room 303 of the Anderson Galleries Building at 489 Park Avenue in New York City], the packing up and closure of The Room, the stock market crash of 1929, the state of the arts during the Great Depression, O'Keefe's illness, and other topics. Together 7 pages, 4to or tall 4to, written on 5 leaves, the first on verso of printed invitation to February 1929 exhibition of O'Keeffe's paintings; some minor scattered smudging or staining, horizontal folds. Each with the original envelope.

[New York], 30 January; [Lake George, 28 June; 7 November 1929]; 23 August 1933.

  • Notes: 30 January 1929: ". . . [I]t is satisfying to know that The Room is actually helpful to some people seeking their own inner truth without making it impossible for them to live in what is termed the world. The inner truth is really part of that world. The Hartley Show ["One Hundred New Paintings by Marsden Hartley," The Room, January 1-31, 1929] has proven a complete first. Hartley has a tough problem ahead of him. O'Keeffe goes up on Saturday ["Forty New Paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe," The Room, February 4 to March 16, 1929]. It is always uncertain what may 'happen.' But I know there will be some very beautiful pictures. . . ."

    27 June 1929: ". . . [Your letter] caught me during packing in the Room's 49 days of constant packing--vacating. The building will probably come down. There are many changes, radical ones, in my life. And as I'm not younger or stronger, the situation is most difficult. I wish I could help you solve your problem(s)--but I fear you'll have to do that yourself. I'm hardly fit to solve my own.
    "I'm up here since 10 days. Lola [O'Keeffe's aunt Leonore ("Lola") I. Totto?] is here with me. O'Keeffe went to Taos on April 27 & will remain there all summer, & may be longer. She needs the 7,000 for altitude. I dare not go over 2,000. So there we are."

    5 November 1929: ". . . It has been a rather desperate time for me--first O'Keeffe's absence of 4 months, & now at the end after a few weeks in between which were perfect, the smash in Wall Street. Not only does one's little capital shrivel up like the autumn leaves before one's eyes, & one understands yet can't help the feeling of complete helplessness--but returning to N. York tomorrow & the Room gone! What to do? There is a demand for another Room, but rents are frightful. The times are more than critical, we know few--very few--really want 'Art' in any form. . . . Ever the struggle. As long as it is always a real experience. . . . So everything becomes of value, genuine value. The value may not buy bread, & may not be able to pay the landlord--nor may it assure you a seat in heaven or elsewhere--yet the poet in one thrives, and somehow manages to live! . . ."

    23 August 1933: ". . . You are fortunate to have a mate like you seem to have. Yes, a woman is an endless world--no man will ever be able to fathom her completely. One might say no individual can ever fathom any other individual completely. But a woman is ever a surprise, a source of wonder to the man who loves her, & in her he either finds his salvation or his damnation. . . . O'Keeffe has been ill for nearly a year--has not been able to do a stroke of anything. Heart & a nervous breakdown. . . .
    ". . . 'Art' seems to have less & less a place in the life today. Even tho' there are still more Art Galleries being built, & more art dealers opening up--but Art and true artists, how about them? Ever the old story. I have a few photographs which I know to be good honest work but I doubt that they will give me a loaf of bread. . . ."
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