Gertrude Käsebier
“Why should not the camera as a medium for the interpretation of art as understood by painters, sculptors, and draughtsmen, command respect?,” the photographer Gertrude Käsebier asked. Trained at the progressive Pratt Institute in the late 19th century, she quickly established herself as a pictorial photographer—part of a movement devoted to the medium as an art form—and focused on portraits and themes such as motherhood. To evoke an ethereal atmosphere, and distinguish her prints from those of commercial photographers and amateur snap shooters, Käsebier combined darkroom manipulation with forceful compositions and a delicate tonal range.
Informed by her childhood on the Great Plains, Käsebier photographed Dakota Sioux performers who toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West spectacle at her New York studio. These sittings—which resulted in portraits of figures such as Joe Black Fox (c. 1899)—aspired to sensitive portrayals of individuals. But they also attest to the complex power dynamics by which these performers had to conform to preconceived ideas about what constituted an authentic identity.
As a principal member of the Photo-Secession group of pictorialists, founded in 1902 by Alfred Steiglitz, Käsebier contributed work to their influential journal Camera Work (as well as the earlier Camera Notes). Käsebier formally left the group in 1912 and later helped to found several professional organizations.
“I earn my own money. I pay my own bills. I carry my own license,” she said of the work she did in her studio, which was known for its comfortable atmosphere and understated decor. Sitters included actress Evelyn Nesbit, architect Stanford White, author Mark Twain, artist Robert Henri, and photographers F. Holland Day and Edward Steichen. Käsebier recalled a sitting with sculptor Auguste Rodin: “When he knew he was going to be photographed, he’d stiffen…. I caught him on one of his moments. He was relaxed and brooding. He didn’t know he had been photographed until it was all over.”
Käsebier remained influential until her death in 1934, even as tastes shifted toward more mobile and less manipulated images. Steichen, the pictorialist-turned-modernist who would become a curator at MoMA, remained devoted to her work, and photographers who worked or apprenticed in Käsebier’s studio include Alice Austin, Alice Boughton, Alvin Landon Coburn, and the sisters Williamina and Grace Parrish. Their respect may reflect her ethos: “The key to artistic photography is to work out your own thoughts,” Käsebier said. “If a thing is good it will survive.”
Jennifer Tobias, Reader Services Librarian, Archives, Library, and Research Collections, 2020
The research for this text was supported by a generous grant from The Modern Women's Fund.
- Introduction
- Gertrude Käsebier (née Stanton; May 18, 1852 – October 12, 1934) was an American photographer. She was known for her images of motherhood, her portraits of Native Americans, and her promotion of photography as a career for women.
- Wikidata
- Q271918
- Nationality
- American
- Gender
- Female
- Roles
- Artist, Photographer
- Names
- Gertrude Käsebier, Gertrude Stanton Käsebier, Gertrude Stanton Kasebier, Gertrude Stanton
- Ulan
- 500011698
Exhibitions
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502: Early Photography and Film
Ongoing
MoMA
Collection gallery
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Photography Rotation 8
May 13, 2011–Mar 12, 2012
MoMA
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Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography
May 7, 2010–Apr 18, 2011
MoMA
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Photography Collection: Rotation 6
Aug 7, 2009–Mar 22, 2010
MoMA
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Into the Sunset: Photography’s Image of the American West
Mar 29–Jun 8, 2009
MoMA
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Gertrude Käsebier has
22 exhibitionsonline.
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Gertrude Käsebier Cornelia 1896
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Gertrude Käsebier Adoration 1897
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Gertrude Käsebier The Manger 1899
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Gertrude Käsebier Blessed Art Thou Among Women 1899
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Gertrude Käsebier Florentine Boy 1900
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Gertrude Käsebier Portrait of a Boy 1900
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Gertrude Käsebier Serbonne 1900
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Gertrude Käsebier Whirling Horse, Sioux c. 1899
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Gertrude Käsebier Untitled c. 1899
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Gertrude Käsebier Joe Black Fox, Sioux c. 1899
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Gertrude Käsebier Iron White Man, Sioux c. 1899
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Gertrude Käsebier Iron White Man, Sioux c. 1899
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Gertrude Käsebier American Pictorial Photography: Series Two 1901
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Gertrude Käsebier Baron de Meyer 1901
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Gertrude Käsebier Baron de Meyer 1901
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Gertrude Käsebier Harmony (Family) 1901
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Gertrude Käsebier The Road to Rome 1902
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Gertrude Käsebier Family Portrait (Clarence H. White and Family) 1902
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Gertrude Käsebier The Picture Book 1902
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Gertrude Käsebier Dorothy c. 1900
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Gertrude Käsebier Portrait of Alfred Stieglitz 1902
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Gertrude Käsebier Happy Days 1903
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Gertrude Käsebier Josephine (Portrait of Miss B) 1903
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Gertrude Käsebier Mrs. Ward and Baby 1903
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Gertrude Käsebier Black and White 1903
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Gertrude Käsebier Baron Adolf de Meyer 1903
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Gertrude Käsebier Edward Steichen c. 1901
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Gertrude Käsebier The Heritage of Motherhood 1904
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Gertrude Käsebier Portrait of F. Holland Day c. 1900
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Gertrude Käsebier Rodin 1905
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Gertrude Käsebier Mrs. R 1905
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Gertrude Käsebier Mrs. Beatrice Baxter Ruyl and Infant 1905
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Gertrude Käsebier The Bride 1905
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Gertrude Käsebier Portrait of the Baron A. De Meyer 1905
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Gertrude Käsebier Gerson Sisters 1906
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Gertrude Käsebier Gerson Sisters 1906
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Gertrude Käsebier Edward Steichen c. 1901
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Gertrude Käsebier Untitled (Portrait of a Young Girl) 1906
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Gertrude Käsebier Bungalows, Oceanside, Long Island 1907
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Gertrude Käsebier Portrait of Alvin Langdon Coburn c. 1902
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Gertrude Käsebier Robert Henri c. 1907
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Gertrude Käsebier The Visitor 1910
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Gertrude Käsebier Clarence White and Family 1912
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Gertrude Käsebier Robert Henri c. 1907
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Gertrude Käsebier Portrait of a Boy c. 1905
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Gertrude Käsebier Portrait of Samuel Grimson c. 1905
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Gertrude Käsebier Labor c. 1907
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Gertrude Käsebier The Rehearsal c. 1905
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