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''The Last Joke, Bellagio'', also known as ''The Good Joke'', is a black and white photograph taken by
The Last Joke, Bellagio at the National Gallery of Art
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''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 kno ...
during a Summer travel to Italy in 1887. He was then living and studying in Germany and decided to travel through several cities of Italy at the Summer.
History and description
Stieglitz visited, among other places, Bellagio, on Lake Como, Lombardy, 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 scene taken from the natural, without any artificiality, and depicts several children and youngsters of both genders laughing apparently at a joke that a woman in the fountain just said. It is closely cropped, focusing on the children, with architectural arches in the background providing a stage set for the image. Stieglitz sent twelve photographs that he took during this travel to the magazine ''The Amateur Photographers Photographic Holiday Work Competition. This picture appeared at the 25 November 1887 issue, and was considered the only spontaneous work in the competition, judged by British photographerPeter Henry Emerson
Peter Henry Emerson (13 May 1856 – 12 May 1936) was a British writer and photographer. His photographs are early examples of promoting straight photography as an art form. He is known for taking photographs that displayed rural settings and f ...
, where it won the first prize.
Public collections
There are at least three prints of this photograph kept at the collections of the National Gallery of Art,Washington, D.C.
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, 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 between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of th ...
, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
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Film and television
* ...
, and at a private collection./ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:The Last Joke, Bellagio 1887 works 1887 in art Black-and-white photographs 1880s photographs Photographs by Alfred Stieglitz Collections of the National Gallery of Art Photographs of the Museum of Modern Art (New York City)