Alvin Langdon Coburn

Marius de Zayas

1910 · Brush and black ink, watercolor, and copper metallic paint over graphite on paper · Modern and Contemporary Art

Despite Coburn's photographic talent and his role as one of the founding members of the Photo-Secession, he engendered many personal animosities within the Stieglitz circle. In particular, his fastidious appearance and his close relationship with his overbearing mother were mercilessly ridiculed. In this caricature, de Zayas accentuates the lines of Coburn's hair and beard and covers his fingers with large, brightly colored rings. The placement of the golden disk on the right side of the paper indicates the subject's "outsider" status.

Artist

Marius de Zayas

Date

1910

Medium

Brush and black ink, watercolor, and copper metallic paint over graphite on paper

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949