- In full:
- Eduard Jean Steichen
- Born:
- March 27, 1879, Luxembourg
- Died:
- March 25, 1973, West Redding, Connecticut, U.S. (aged 93)
- Movement / Style:
- Photo-Secession
Edward Steichen
-
Who was Edward Steichen?
Edward Steichen (1879–1973) was a versatile American photographer who excelled in diverse roles. He was known for his artistic and inventive approach, helping photography gain recognition as a fine art. Steichen also achieved commercial success in the 1920s and 30s, creating portraits of celebrities and artists. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Navy and directed a photographic record of the naval war in the Pacific. Later, he became the director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art. His most notable curatorial work was "The Family of Man" exhibition in 1955, which promoted human solidarity through 503 images from around the world.
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What kind of art did Edward Steichen create?
Edward Steichen was an American photographer known for his broad artistic range. He was an inventive photographer who helped photography gain acceptance as a fine art. Steichen's early photography emulated paintings, and he used his painting training to produce pictures resembling traditional media.
After serving in World War I, Steichen moved away from Pictorialism and toward sharper, more objective photography. He then became a successful commercial photographer, creating portraits of celebrities and working for magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair. Later, Steichen became a curator and advocate for photography, and he put together the influential "Family of Man" exhibition in 1955.
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Why was Edward Steichen important in photography?
Edward Steichen was an important American photographer who excelled in diverse roles. He was initially known for his talent in fine art photography, working to gain public acceptance for photography as an art form. After serving in the military, Steichen changed his approach to photography, replacing symbolism with clarity and objectivity.
Switching to commercial photography, Steichen created portraits of celebrities and figures like Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo, and Charlie Chaplin for Vogue and Vanity Fair, defining the era's style. As a curator, he directed photography at the Museum of Modern Art and created the influential "Family of Man" exhibition in 1955, which promoted human solidarity through 503 images from around the world.
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What are some famous photographs or exhibits by Steichen?
Edward Steichen was a versatile American photographer known for his Pictorialist photography, commercial work, and curatorial efforts.
Steichen's photographs were first exhibited in 1899 at the Second Philadelphia Photographic Salon. After serving in World War I, Steichen moved away from Pictorialism, and in 1923, he opened a commercial studio in New York City. As part of his work for Conde Nast, Steichen created portraits of celebrities like Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo, and Charlie Chaplin.
As Director of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, Steichen curated exhibitions such as "The Road to Victory" (1942), "Power in the Pacific" (1945), and "The Family of Man" (1955). "The Family of Man" was based on human solidarity, displaying 503 images from around the world and seen by almost nine million people in 37 countries.
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How did Steichen's style and techniques influence photography?
Edward Steichen's influence on photography is marked by his versatility and innovative approaches. In his early career, Steichen was a proponent of Pictorialism, using techniques to emulate painting styles and establish photography as a fine art.
After serving in World War I, his style shifted towards sharper, more objective imagery, aligning with the New Objectivity movement. Steichen's work in commercial photography, especially his celebrity portraits for Condé Nast, helped define the era's aesthetic. He also promoted modern art through his work with Alfred Stieglitz at the Photo-Secession gallery.
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What roles did Steichen have at art museums or in the photography world?
Edward Steichen was an influential figure in the photography world, taking on a broad range of roles. He was known as a talented and inventive photographer, striving to gain public acceptance for photography as a fine art.
Steichen's roles include:
* Photographer He was a commercial photographer who created portraits of artists and celebrities.
* Curator He was guest director for exhibits such as "The Road to Victory" and "Power in the Pacific." In 1947, Steichen became the director of the department of photography at the Museum of Modern Art.
* Military service During World War II, Steichen was in charge of directing a photographic record of the naval war in the Pacific.1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Edward Steichen (born March 27, 1879, Luxembourg—died March 25, 1973, West Redding, Connecticut, U.S.) was an American photographer who achieved distinction in a remarkably broad range of roles. In his youth he was perhaps the most talented and inventive photographer among those working to win public acceptance of photography as a fine art. He went on to gain fame as a commercial photographer in the 1920s and ’30s, when he created stylish and convincing portraits of artists and celebrities. He was also a prominent curator, organizing the hugely influential “Family of Man” exhibition in 1955.
Early life and work
Born in Luxembourg, Steichen and his parents immigrated to the United States when he was two years old. They settled in the small city of Hancock, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where Steichen’s father worked in the copper mines. When his father was incapacitated by poor health the family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the artist’s mother supported the family as a milliner. Beginning at age 15, Steichen served a four-year apprenticeship in a lithographic firm. During the 1890s he independently studied both painting and photography, applying himself equally, it would seem, to their commercial and fine-art possibilities, as he understood them.
The obvious way to persuade the public that photography was a fine art was to produce photographs that emulated the mood, manner, or attitude of the paintings and prints that the public confidently held to be works of art. Young Steichen pursued this strategy, known as Pictorialism, with abandon. Utilizing his training as a painter, in his early photographs he frequently used the gum-bichromate process in conjunction with platinum or iron-based emulsions, which allowed him a very high degree of control over the image and tended to produce pictures with a superficial resemblance to mezzotints, wash drawings, and other traditional media. Steichen’s photographs were first exhibited in the Second Philadelphia Photographic Salon in 1899, and from that point he became a regular exhibitor, and soon a star, in the shows of photography’s fine-arts movement.
Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession
In 1900, before making the first of many extended trips to Europe, Steichen met Alfred Stieglitz, who bought three of the young man’s photographs at the not inconsiderable price of five dollars each. It was the beginning of a close and mutually rewarding relationship that would last until 1917. In 1902 Stieglitz invited Steichen to join him and other photographers, including Clarence H. White and Gertrude Käsebier, in founding the Photo-Secession, an organization dedicated to promoting photography as a fine art.
Steichen became closely involved with many of Stieglitz’s endeavours during the next 15 years. In 1905 Stieglitz opened his first gallery, originally called the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession but better known as 291, named after its address at 291 Fifth Avenue. Steichen served as the gallery’s French connection. Using the contacts he had made in Europe—many of whom he had memorably photographed—he became principally responsible for arranging the exhibitions of French Modernist art that were held at 291, including the work of Auguste Rodin (drawings) in 1908, Henri Matisse in 1908, and Paul Cézanne in 1910. Such shows were often the first presentations in America of the work of these artists. Concurrently, during the 14-year existence of Stieglitz’s Photo-Secessionist magazine, Camera Work, it reproduced more pictures by Steichen—68—than by any other photographer. (Stieglitz himself was second with 51.)
The break between Stieglitz and Steichen came on the verge of the United States’ entry into World War I, perhaps chiefly because Steichen was a dedicated Francophile and Stieglitz was openly sympathetic to Germany. Or perhaps it was because Steichen had come to believe that Stieglitz’s Photo-Secession and its instruments—291 and Camera Work—had become the vehicles for a personality cult. Toward the end of the gallery’s life, Stieglitz sent letters to those who had known the place well asking them to say what 291 had meant to them. The responses were properly and predictably flattering, except for Steichen’s. His was angry and shockingly frank. He wrote, in part, “I resent this inquiry into [the gallery’s] meaning as being impertinent, egoistic and previous. Previous in so far that it makes the inquiry resemble an obituary or an inquest, and because it further tends to establish a precedent in the form of a past.” It is difficult to believe that the friendship could have survived so direct a challenge.