Described in ARTnews on his death as "undoubtedly one of the great colorists of the American School," Arthur B. Carles poses here for photographer Alfred Stieglitz on the occasion of a 1921 exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The two men were close friends, Stieglitz's famous 291 gallery having been the first to present Carles's Fauvist-inspired abstract paintings after he returned in 1910 from study in Europe. At the time of this photograph, Carles held a teaching post at the Pennsylvania Academy and had a reputation for his bohemian temperament and appearance. A painting by fellow modernist Georgia O'Keeffe serves as a backdrop for this evocative portrait.

Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946)
Platinum print, 1921
Published April 1953
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; The Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949