''The Last Joke, Bellagio'', also known as ''The Good Joke'', is a black and white photograph taken by

Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (; January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was k ...

during a Summer travel to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1887. He was then living and studying in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and decided to travel through several cities of

at the Summer.

History and description

Stieglitz visited, among other places, Bellagio, on

Lake Como Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, where he took several photographs, often depicting landscapes and folk scenes. This one was part of the group that he took while at Bellagio. The picture depicts a candid scene, without any artificiality, and depicts several children and youngsters of both genders apparently laughing at a joke that the woman at the fountain has just said. The photo is closely cropped, focusing on the children, with architectural arches in the background providing a "stage set" for the image. Stieglitz sent twelve photographs from this trip to ''The Amateur Photographer magazine's Photographic Holiday Work Competition. This picture appeared in the 25 November 1887 issue. It was considered the only spontaneous work in the competition, judged by British photographer Peter Henry Emerson, and it won the first prize.

Public collections

There are at least three prints of this photograph; they belong to the collections of the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and of a private collector.The Last Joke, Bellagio at the National Gallery of Art
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Joke, Bellagio, The 1887 works 1887 in art Black-and-white photographs 1880s photographs Photographs by Alfred Stieglitz Photographs in the National Gallery of Art Photographs in the Museum of Modern Art (New York City)