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Artists›Alvin Langdon Coburn

Alvin Langdon Coburn

Alvin Langdon Coburn

Artist

WA-00026611

PhotographyConceptual ArtPhotography

Representation

None documented

15

Institutional Exhibitions

96

Works in Collection

169

Assets Indexed

0

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ449156 ULAN500010929

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

American Landscapes

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1981

No image

Photography: Recent Acquisitions, 1974�1976

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1976

No image

Photo Eye of the 20s

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1970

No image

Photography as Printmaking

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1968

No image

Steichen Gallery Reinstallation

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1967

No image

Edward Steichen Photography Center

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964

No image

The Photographer's Eye

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964

No image

The Sense of Abstraction

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1960

No image

30th Anniversary Special Installation - Towards the "New" Museum

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1959

No image

Photographs from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1958–1959

No image

Then and Now

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1952

No image

Abstraction in Photography

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1951

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/1164
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Alvin Langdon Coburn was an American photographer and pioneer of modernist photographic abstraction who worked from the 1900s until his death in 1966. He is known for his early experiments with close-up photography, soft focus portraiture, and abstract compositions created through multiple exposures and unconventional framing. His vortographs, geometric photographic abstractions produced in collaboration with Ezra Pound and Wyndham Lewis around 1917, anticipated non-representational photography by decades. Coburn's technical innovations and formal investigations positioned photography as a medium capable of genuine artistic and conceptual innovation rather than mere documentation.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Conceptual Art

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Art Institute of Chicago Museum of Modern ArtNew York

Canonical record

Artworks (96)

Vortograph of Ezra Pound

Vortograph of Ezra Pound

1916 · Gelatin silver print

2 15/16 × 3 15/16" (7.5 × 10 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Vortograph

1916 · Gelatin silver print

11 1/16 × 8 3/8" (28.1 × 21.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Portrait of John Masefield

Portrait of John Masefield

1915 · Photogravure

7 1/2 × 6" (19.0 × 15.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Gezicht op Custom House aan de Theems met boten

Gezicht op Custom House aan de Theems met boten

1914 · photoaquatint on cardboard

width: 89 cm, height: 144 cm

Gezicht op de Tower of London aan de Theems met boten

Gezicht op de Tower of London aan de Theems met boten

1914 · photoaquatint on cardboard

width: 189 cm, height: 144 cm

Portrait of Augustus John

Portrait of Augustus John

1914 · Gelatin silver print

11 1/8 × 8 1/8" (28.3 × 20.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled

1913 · Gum bichromate over platinum print

Image/paper: 43.3 × 23.4 cm (17 1/16 × 9 1/4 in.); Mount: 46.2 × 26 cm (18 1/4 × 10 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Roofs, Paris

1913 · Gelatin silver print

8 9/16 × 10 7/8" (21.8 × 27.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Singer Building, New York City

Singer Building, New York City

1912 · Gum bichromate over platinum print

Image/paper: 42.4 × 22.5 cm (16 3/4 × 8 7/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

The Cloud

1912 · Platinum print

7 5/16 × 5 3/8" (18.5 × 13.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Cloud

1912 · Platinum print

7 1/4 × 5 7/8" (18.4 × 15 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Cloud

1912 · Platinum print

7 3/8 × 5 1/2" (18.8 × 14 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Cloud

1912 · Platinum print

7 3/8 × 5 1/2" (18.8 × 13.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Cloud

1912 · Platinum print

7 3/8 × 5 1/2" (18.8 × 13.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Cloud

1912 · Platinum print

7 1/16 × 5 1/2" (17.9 × 14 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Cloud

1912 · Book of platinum prints

7 × 5" (17.8 × 12.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled

1911 · Gum bichromate over platinum print

Image/paper: 40.6 × 30.1 cm (16 × 11 7/8 in.); Mount: 52 × 40 cm (20 1/2 × 15 3/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Grand Canyon

1911 · Platinum print

16 × 12 1/4" (40.6 × 31.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Paddington Canal, London

Paddington Canal, London

1910 · Photogravure

8 1/8 × 6 5/16" (20.6 × 16 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Tower, London

The Tower, London

1910 · Photogravure

7 15/16 × 6 5/16" (20.2 × 16 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Houses of Parliament, London

Houses of Parliament, London

1910 · Photogravure

8 1/4 × 6 7/16" (21 × 16.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

From Westminster Bridge, London

From Westminster Bridge, London

1910 · Photogravure

8 5/16 × 6 5/16" (21.1 × 16 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Westminster Abbey, London

1910 · Photogravure

8 1/16 × 6 3/16" (20.5 × 15.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Kensington Gardens, November, London

Kensington Gardens, November, London

1910 · Photogravure

8 × 6 5/16" (20.3 × 16.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 96 artworks →

Artwork sources (3)

96 published of 168 catalogued · 115 with image

MoMA
73 publishedof 145 catalogued92 img
Art Institute Chicago
19 published19 img
Rijksmuseum
4 published4 img

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 4)

4 entries · 1 sources

Omnibus bij Hyde Park Corner in Londen
1909 · Rijksmuseum · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Gezicht op de Tower of London aan de Theems met boten
1914 · Rijksmuseum · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Gezicht op Custom House aan de Theems met boten
1914 · Rijksmuseum · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
London, 1909
1909 · Rijksmuseum · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

A Tree in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

6

Movements2

Conceptual Art Photography

Collections4

Art Institute of Chicago Museum of Modern Art Phillips Artsy

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction