Stieglitz, Alfred. Alfred Stieglitz Talking: Notes on Some of His Conversations, 1925-1931 by Herbert Seligmann..

Yale University Library, 1966. [Essential reference on Stieglitz, with many stories including how he met Georgia O'Keeffe, who became his second wife.] Cloth, hardcover, 149 pages, including index. Not issued with dust jacket. Fine.  Summary:

Alfred Stieglitz Talking: Notes on Some of His Conversations, 1925–1931 (published in 1966 by the Yale University Library) is an invaluable primary-source volume that captures the unvarnished, everyday philosophy of the father of modern American photography. Compiled and edited by Herbert J. Seligmann—a prominent critic, poet, and civil rights activist who was a member of Stieglitz’s inner circle—this 149-page book acts as a textual time capsule, documenting Stieglitz’s thoughts during a highly transformative period of late-career gallery leadership.

Key Elements of the Work

• The Transcribed Dialogue: Unlike highly polished, retrospective autobiographies, this text relies on raw notes Seligmann meticulously took immediately following his daily interactions with Stieglitz. It preserves the rhythm of Stieglitz’s literal speaking voice, capturing his legendary aphorisms, passionate declarations, and often combative rants about art and society.

• The Gallery Transition Era: The book focuses strictly on the years 1925 to 1931. This timeline traces a critical institutional shift as Stieglitz operated The Intimate Gallery (Room 303) and transitioned into establishing his final space, An American Place, charting his hands-on curation and the everyday realities of running an avant-garde stronghold in midtown Manhattan.

• The Circle of Modernists: Through these casual conversations, the text offers behind-the-scenes insights into Stieglitz's complex relationships with his closest artistic peers and muses. It features candid, real-time commentary regarding Georgia O'Keeffe, John Marin, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, and Paul Strand, illuminating how he fiercely defended and critiqued their creative development.

• Uncompromising Ideology: The notes provide a deeper look into Stieglitz's central artistic doctrines. He discusses his radical opposition to the commercialization of the art market, his definition of "straight photography," and his overarching belief that a true image must act as a spiritual, psychological "equivalent" of human experience.

Narrative Intent

The volume functions as an antidote to clinical art history textbooks, offering a profoundly humanized portrait of an icon. By publishing these raw, intimate conversations decades after they occurred, Seligmann and the Yale University Library provided scholars with a direct line into Stieglitz's mind, illustrating how his daily, unyielding obsession with creative truth shaped the very foundation of modern American cultural history.