Edward Steichen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edward Steichen
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Edward Steichen, photographed by
Fred Holland Day (1901) |
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| Born |
Édouard Jean Steichen
March 27, 1879 Bivange/Béiweng, Luxembourg
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| Died | March 25, 1973 (aged 93) |
| Nationality | Luxembourgish by birth; American from 1900 |
| Known for | Photography, Painting |
| Spouse(s) |
Clara Smith
(m. 1903; div. 1922)Dana Desboro Glover
(m. 1923; died 1957)Joanna Taub
(m. 1960) |
| Awards | Légion d'Honneur, Medal of Freedom |
Edward Jean Steichen (born March 27, 1879 – died March 25, 1973) was a famous Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and art organizer. Many people see him as one of the most important people in the history of photography.
Steichen helped turn photography into a true art form. His pictures appeared often in Alfred Stieglitz's important magazine Camera Work from 1903 to 1917. Stieglitz even called him "the greatest photographer that ever lived."
Steichen was also a pioneer in fashion photography. In 1911, his photos of dresses for Art et Décoration magazine were some of the first modern fashion pictures ever published. From 1923 to 1938, Steichen was the main photographer for the magazines Vogue and Vanity Fair. He also worked for many advertising companies. During these years, Steichen was known as the most famous and highest-paid photographer in the world.
When the United States joined World War II, the United States Navy asked Steichen to lead their Naval Aviation Photographic Unit. In 1944, he directed a war documentary film called The Fighting Lady. This film won an Oscar in 1945 for Best Documentary.
From 1947 to 1961, Steichen was the Director of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art. There, he organized many photo shows, including The Family of Man. This exhibition was seen by nine million people around the world. In 2003, the Family of Man photo collection was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. This recognized its great historical value.
In February 2006, one of Steichen's early artistic photographs, The Pond—Moonlight (1904), sold for a huge amount of money. It was US$2.9 million, which was a record for a photograph sold at auction at that time.
Contents
Early Life and Artistic Start
Growing Up in America
Edward Steichen was born Éduard Jean Steichen in Bivange, Luxembourg. His parents were Jean-Pierre and Marie Kemp Steichen. His father moved to the United States in 1880. His mother brought baby Edward to join his father in Hancock, Michigan. Edward's sister, Lilian Steichen, was born in Hancock, MI. She later married the poet Carl Sandburg.
In 1889, when Edward was 10, his family moved to Milwaukee. He learned German and English at school, but they spoke Luxembourgish at home.
Discovering Art and Photography
In 1894, at age 15, Steichen started at Pio Nono College, a Catholic high school. His artistic talent was first noticed there, especially his drawings. He left high school to start a four-year job learning lithography at the American Fine Art Company in Milwaukee. After work, he would sketch and draw, and he taught himself to paint.
In 1895, he found a camera shop and bought his first camera. It was a used Kodak box camera. Steichen and his friends, who also liked art and photography, rented a small room in Milwaukee. They called themselves the Milwaukee Art Students League. They even hired artists Richard Lorenz and Robert Schade to give talks.
Steichen became a U.S. citizen in 1900. He signed his papers as Edward J. Steichen, but he kept using his birth name, Éduard, until after World War I.
Family Life
Steichen married Clara Smith in 1903. They had two daughters, Mary and Kate. They divorced in 1922. Steichen then married Dana Desboro Glover in 1923, but she passed away in 1957. In 1960, when he was 80, Steichen married Joanna Taub. They stayed married until he died, just before his 94th birthday.
Working with Alfred Stieglitz
A photographer named Clarence H. White thought Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz should meet. Steichen was on his way to Paris from Milwaukee in 1900 when he met Stieglitz in New York City. Stieglitz was impressed by Steichen's painting skills and bought three of his photos.
In 1902, Stieglitz was planning his magazine Camera Work. He asked Steichen to design the logo and a special typeface for it. Steichen's photos were shown more often than any other photographer's in the magazine.
In 1904, Steichen started trying out color photography. He was one of the first in the U.S. to use the Autochrome Lumière process. In 1905, Stieglitz and Steichen opened the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession. This gallery later became known as 291 because of its address. It was one of the first places in America to show art by famous artists like Henri Matisse, Auguste Rodin, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Constantin Brâncuși.
Becoming a Fashion Photography Pioneer
Early Fashion Photos
Fashion photography started in the 1890s with pictures of well-dressed actresses. After it became possible to print high-quality photos, many people say Adolph de Meyer and Steichen were the first true fashion photographers. In 1907, Steichen used a friend's camera to take natural photos of stylish ladies at the Longchamp Racecourse. Back then, fashion was often photographed at horse races, worn by rich people or models.
In 1911, Lucien Vogel, a magazine publisher, challenged Steichen. He wanted Steichen to show that fashion photography could be a fine art. Steichen took pictures of gowns designed by the famous couturier Paul Poiret. These photos were printed in the April 1911 issue of Art et Décoration magazine. Two of them were in color.
Steichen himself said in his 1963 book that his 1911 Art et Décoration photos "were probably the first serious fashion photographs ever made." Many people agree with this idea. Steichen brought an artistic touch to fashion photography. He used a soft, artistic style that made the clothes look perfect, rather than just showing every detail.
Working for Condé Nast
After World War I, where he led the photo division for the American army, Steichen changed his style. He started taking more clear and direct photos for fashion. In 1923, Condé Nast hired him for an amazing salary of $35,000. This would be worth over $500,000 today!
Service in World War II
When World War II began, Steichen was in his sixties and had stopped working as a photographer. He was busy growing new types of delphinium flowers. In 1936, his flower exhibition was the only one ever held at the Museum of Modern Art.
When America joined the war, Steichen, who had been an Army Colonel in World War I, was too old for active duty. But the Navy asked him to lead the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit. He became a Lieutenant-Commander in January 1942. Steichen chose six officer-photographers for his team, including Wayne Miller.
A collection of 172 photos taken by his unit is now at the Harry Ransom Center. Their war documentary film The Fighting Lady, which Steichen directed, won an Oscar in 1945 for Best Documentary.
In 1942, Steichen organized an exhibition for the Museum of Modern Art called Road to Victory. Five copies of this show traveled around the world. The photos in the exhibition were taken by Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps members. Many were anonymous, and some were taken by automatic cameras in Navy planes during battles. In January 1945, he followed this with Power in the Pacific: Battle Photographs of our Navy in Action on the Sea and In the Sky.
Steichen left active duty on December 13, 1945, as a Captain. For his service in World War II, he received several awards, including the World War II Victory Medal.
Leading the Museum of Modern Art
Becoming Director of Photography
In 1929, the Museum of Modern Art's director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., wanted to add a photography department. It finally opened in 1940, becoming the first photography department in a museum focused on 20th-century art. Beaumont Newhall was its first head.
Because of how popular his war exhibitions, Road to Victory and Power in the Pacific, were, Steichen was chosen as Director of Photography in 1947. This caused Newhall and most of his staff to leave. Many people protested Steichen's appointment, including Ansel Adams. Adams felt that Steichen would focus too much on "popular" photography instead of "art" photography.
However, Steichen did choose Ansel Adams' famous photo Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico for a publication in 1943. This helped Moonrise become known before its first official museum show in 1944.
Steichen's Vision for MoMA
As director, Steichen believed in showing American photography. He worked to grow the museum's collection and supported new photographers of the 1950s. He worked with Robert Frank before his book The Americans was even published. He also showed early works by Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. Steichen bought two Rauschenberg prints in 1952, before any other museum did.
Steichen also kept up with photography from other countries. He held shows and bought important photos from Europe and Latin America. Three books were published by the department during his time: The Family of Man, Steichen the Photographer, and The Bitter Years: 1935–1941: Rural America as Seen by the Photographers of the Farm Security Administration. Even with his long career, Steichen only showed his own work at MoMA in a special show called Steichen the Photographer after he announced his retirement in 1961.
The Family of Man Exhibition
One of Steichen's biggest achievements was creating The Family of Man. This exhibition traveled the world and was seen by 9 million visitors. It still holds the record for the most-visited photography show ever. It is now permanently displayed in Clervaux Castle in Luxembourg, his home country. Steichen called this exhibition the "culmination of his career."
The show had over 500 photos showing life, love, and death in 68 countries. Steichen's brother-in-law, Carl Sandburg, wrote the introduction for its popular book. Just as Steichen wished, the exhibition was given to Luxembourg.
Exhibitions Curated by Steichen
Here are some of the exhibitions Steichen organized or directed at The Museum of Modern Art:
- 1947: Three Young Photographers
- 1948: In and Out of Focus: A Survey of Today's Photography
- 1948: 50 Photographs by 50 Photographers
- 1948: Photo-Secession (American Photography 1902–1910)
- 1948/1949: Photographs by Bill Brandt, Harry Callahan, Ted Croner, Lisette Model
- 1949: This Exact Instant, Events And Pages in 100 Years of News Photography
- 1949: Roots of Photography (works by Hill and Adamson, Julia Margaret Cameron, Henry Fox Talbot)
- 1949: Realism in Photography
- 1949: Photographs by Margaret Bourke-White, Helen Levitt, Dorothea Lange, Tana Hoban, Esther Bubley, and Hazel-Frieda Larsen
- 1950: Roots of French Photography
- 1950: Photographs of Picasso by Gjon Mili and by Robert Capa
- 1950: Photography Recent Acquisitions: Stieglitz, Atget
- 1950: Color Photography
- 1950: Photographs by 51 Photographers
- 1950: Photographs by Lewis Carroll
- 1951: Korea - The Impact of War in Photographs
- 1951: Abstraction in Photography
- 1951: 12 Photographers
- 1951: Forgotten Photographers
- 1951: Memorable 'Life' Photographs
- 1952: Christmas Photographs
- 1952: Five French Photographers
- 1952: We Create for Pleasure
- 1952: Diogenes with a Camera
- 1952: Then and Now
- 1953: Always the Young Strangers
- 1953: Postwar European Photography
- 1955: The Family of Man
- 1956: Diogenes with a Camera III
- 1956: Diogenes with a Camera IV
- 1956/7: Language of the Wall: Parisian Graffiti Photographed by Brassaï
- 1958: 70 Photographers Look at New York
- 1959: Photographs from the Museum Collection
- 1960: Photographs for Collectors
- 1962: Photographs by Harry Callahan and Robert Frank
- 1962: 50 Photographs by 50 Photographers
- 1962: The Bitter Years: 1935–1941
Steichen hired John Szarkowski to take over his role at the Museum of Modern Art on July 1, 1962.
Later Life and Legacy
Awards and Archives
On December 6, 1963, Steichen received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Even at 88 years old, Steichen was still active. In 1967, he wrote to the U.S. Senate to support new copyright laws for photography. He wanted photography to have the same rights as other art forms.
In 1968, the Edward Steichen Archive was created at MoMA. Its goal was to show how important Steichen's work was to photography and modern art. Grace M. Mayer, who had been Steichen's assistant, became the Curator of the Archive.
Final Years
In 1969, photographers, editors, and museum experts gathered to celebrate Steichen's 90th birthday. The event was held at the Plaza Hotel.
Steichen bought a farm in 1928 called Umpawaug, near West Redding, Connecticut. He lived there until he passed away on March 25, 1973, just two days before his 94th birthday. After his death, his farm became a park called Topstone Park.
Steichen's Impact
"I consider Steichen a very great artist and the leading, the greatest photographer of the time. Before him, nothing conclusive had been achieved."
Steichen's career, especially his work at MoMA, helped make photography popular and respected. Both during his life and after his death, his photos became valuable art pieces.
In February 2006, a print of Steichen's early artistic photo, The Pond—Moonlight (1904), sold for what was then the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction. It sold for $2.9 million.
Steichen took this photo in Mamaroneck, New York. It shows a forest and a pond, with moonlight shining through the trees and reflecting on the water. Even though it looks like a color photo, the first real color photo process wasn't available until 1907. Steichen made it look like color by hand-painting layers of special light-sensitive materials onto the paper.
Only three prints of The Pond—Moonlight are known to exist. Because each was hand-painted, they are all unique. The very high price of the print was partly because it was so rare and one-of-a-kind.
In 2007, a show of Steichen's early color photographs was held at the Mudam (Museum of Modern Art) in Luxembourg City.
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
- 1900 Photo Club. Paris
- 1900 Mrs. Arthur Robinson Home. Milwaukee (USA)
- 1901 La Maison des Artistes, Paris
- 1902 Photo-Club, Paris
- 1902 Eduard Steichen, Paintings and Photographs; Maison des artistes; Paris, France
- 1905 Photo-Secession Gallery, New York
- 1906 Photographs by Eduard Steichen; Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession (291 Gallery); New York, New York
- 1908 Eduard Steichen, Photographs in Monochrome and Color; Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession; New York, New York
- 1909 Photo-Secession Gallery, New York
- 1910 Photo-Secession Gallery, New York
- 1910 Montross Gallery. London
- 1910 Little Gallery. New York City (USA)
- 1915 M. Knoedler & Company, New York (USA)
- 1938 Museum of Modern Art, New York (USA)
- 1938 Edward Steichen; Baltimore Museum of Art; Baltimore, Maryland
- 1938 Retrospective, Baltimore Museum of Art (USA)
- 1950 Edward Steichen, Retrospective; American Institute of Architects Headquarters; Washington, D.C.
- 1961 Steichen the Photographer; Museum of Modern Art; New York, New York
- 1965 Retrospective, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
- 1976 Allan Frumkin Gallery. Chicago (USA)
- 1978 Museum of Modern Art. New York (USA)
- 1979 George Eastman House, Rochester (USA)
- 2000 Edward Steichen; Whitney Museum of American Art; New York, New York
- 2002 Edward Steichen: Art as Advertising/ Advertising as Art; Norsk Museum for Fotografi-Preus Fotomuseum; Horten, Norway
- 2004: Hollywood Celebrities: Edward Steichen, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Netherlands
- 2005: Edward Steichen, Botschaft von Luxemburg, Germany
- 2005: Hollywood Celebrity: Edward Steichen’s Vanity Fair Portraits, Multimedia Art Museum, Russia
- 2007: Steichen; une épopée photographique, Jeu de Paume, France
- 2008: Edward Steichen, Palazzo Magnani, Italy
- 2008: Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography / Une épopée photographique, Musée de l'Elysée, Switzerland
- 2008: Edward Steichen: Une Epopée Photographique, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Spain
- 2008: Edward Steichen: In High Fashion 1923-1937, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland
- 2009: Edward Steichen: 1915-1923, Howard Greenberg Gallery, USA
- 2009: Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
- 2009: Edward Steichen: In High Fashion the Condé Nast Years, 1923–1937, Williams College Museum of Art, USA
- 2009: Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, The Condé Nast Years, 1923–1937, International Center of Photography, USA
- 2009: Edward Steichen: The Early Years, Museum of Photographic Arts, USA
- 2009/10: Edward Steichen. In High Fashion, the Condé Nast Years, 1923–1937, AGO Art Gallery Ontario, Canada
- 2011: Edward Steichen: Celebrity Design, Museum Folkwang, Germany
- 2011: Edward Steichen: The Last Printing, Danziger Gallery, USA
- 2012: Edward Steichen: gli anni Condé Nast, Fondazione Sozzani, Italy
- 2013: Edward Steichen, Museum of Photography, Denmark
- 2013: In High Fashion: the Condé Nast Years, 1923–1937, foam Fotografiemuseum Netherlands
- 2013: Modern Age Light and Shadow: 1923-1937, Setagaya Art Museum, Japan
- 2013: Talk of the Town: Portraits by Edward Steichen from the Hollander Collection, LACMA Museum, USA
- 2014: Sharp, Clear Pictures. Edward Steichen's World War I and Condé Nast Years, Art Institute of Chicago, USA
- 2014: Edward Steichen & Art Deco Fashion, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
- 2014: Steichen in the 1920s and 1930s: A Recent Acquisition, Whitney Museum Art, USA
- 2014/ 2015: In High Fashion: Edward Steichen, The Conde Nast Years 1923 - 1937, Photographers' Gallery UK
- 2015: Edward Steichen, Galerie Clairefontaine, Luxembourg
- 2015: Edward Steichen In High Fashion. The Condé Nast Years. 1923-1937, Multimedia Art Museum, Russia
- 2015: In High Fashion: Edward Steichen, WestLicht, Austria
- 2016: Making Meaning of a Legacy: Edward Steichen, Centre for Fine Arts - Bozar, Belgium
- 2017: Twentieth-Century Photographer Edward Steichen, DeCordova Museum, US
Group Shows
- 1900 The New School of American Photography; Royal Photographic Society; London, England and Paris, France
- 1902 American Pictorial Photography; National Arts Club; New York, New York.
- 1904 Salon International de Photographie, Paris.
- 1905 Opening Exhibition; Little Galleries of the Photo Secession; New York, New York.
- 1906 Photographs Arranged by the Photo Secession; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1910 The Younger American Painters; Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession; New York, New York.
- 1910 International Exhibit of Pictorial Photography; Albright Art Gallery; Rochester, New York
- 1932 Murals by American Painters and Photographers; Museum of Modern Art; New York, New York
- 1955 The Family of Man, MOMA, New York (USA)
Images for kids
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Poster for the famous photography exhibition, The Family of Man. In 2003, this collection was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
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Landscape with Avenue of Trees, a painting by Steichen, 1902
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Portrait of Auguste Rodin by Steichen, 1902
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The cover of Camera Work, showing Steichen's design. This issue was all about Steichen's photos.
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Self-portrait, by Edward Steichen. Published in Camera Work in 1903.
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Portrait of J.P. Morgan, taken in 1903.
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The Flatiron Building in a photograph from 1904, taken by Steichen.
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Experiment in Three-Color Photography, by Steichen, published in Camera Work in 1906.
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Pastoral – Moonlight, by Steichen, published in Camera Work in 1907.
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Eugene, Stieglitz, Kühn and Steichen Admiring the Work of Eugene, by Frank Eugene from 1907. From left to right are Eugene, Alfred Stieglitz, Heinrich Kühn, and Steichen.
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Picture by Steichen of Brâncuși's studio, 1920.
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Portrait of Constantin Brâncuși, taken at Steichen's home in 1922.
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"Aircraft of Carrier Air Group 16 return to the USS Lexington (CV-16) during the Gilberts operation, November 1943." Photographed by Commander Edward Steichen, USNR.
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See also
In Spanish: Edward Steichen para niños
