Paris, New York, and Partnerships with Stieglitz and Rodin '' (1902) In April 1900, Steichen left Milwaukee for
Paris to study art.
Clarence H. White thought Steichen and
Alfred Stieglitz should meet, and thus produced an introduction letter for Steichen, and Steichen—then
en route to Paris from his home in Milwaukee—met Stieglitz in
New York City in early 1900. In that first meeting, Stieglitz expressed praise for Steichen's background in painting and bought three of Steichen's photographic prints. In 1902, when Stieglitz was formulating what would become
Camera Work, he asked Steichen to design the logo for the magazine with a custom
typeface. Steichen was the most frequently shown photographer in the journal. In Camera Work, Steichen pushed for a democratic approach where he responded to those who criticized him for manipulating photographs claiming that all photographers were frackers and “upended the myth of an “objective” photography faithful to nature.” Claiming, “There is never anything natural in photography […] every shot, every print, is already a manipulation that introduces a gap between the photograph and its supposed truth”. His approach effectively blurring the lines between the two arts. Steichen began experimenting with color photography in 1904 and was one of the earliest in the United States to use the
Autochrome Lumière process. In 1905, Stieglitz and Steichen created the
Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession, in what had been Steichen's portrait studio; it eventually became known as the
291 Gallery after its address. It presented some of the first American exhibitions of
Auguste Rodin,
Henri Matisse,
Paul Cézanne,
Pablo Picasso, and
Constantin Brâncuși. According to author and art historian William A. Ewing, Steichen became one of the earliest "
jet setters", constantly moving back and forth between Europe and the U.S. by steamship, in the process cross-pollinating art from Europe to the United States, helping to define photography as an art form, and at the same time widening America's understanding of European art and art in general. ,
Kühn and Steichen Admiring the Work of Eugene'' by
Frank Eugene, 1907
Pioneering fashion photography Fashion photography began with
engravings reproduced from photographs of modishly-dressed actresses by
Leopold-Emile Reutlinger,
Nadar and others in the 1890s. After high-quality
half-tone reproduction of photographs became possible, most credit as pioneers of the
genre goes to the French Baron
Adolph de Meyer and to Steichen who, borrowing his friend's hand-camera in 1907, candidly photographed dazzlingly-dressed ladies at the
Longchamp Racecourse. Fashion then was being photographed for newspaper supplements and fashion magazines, particularly by the
Frères Séeberger, Steichen took photos of gowns designed by
couturier Paul Poiret, which were published in the April 1911 issue of the magazine
Art et Décoration. and appeared next to flat, stylised, yellow-and-black
Georges Lepape drawings of accessories, fabrics, and girls. a generalised claim since repeated by many commentators. What he (and de Meyer) After
World War I, during which he commanded the photographic division of the
American Expeditionary Forces, he gradually reverted to
straight photography. In the early 1920s, Steichen famously took over 1000 photographs of a single cup and saucer, on "a graduated scale of tones from pure white through light and dark greys to black velvet," which he compared to a musician's finger exercises. He was hired by
Condé Nast in 1923 for the extraordinary salary of $35,000 (equivalent to over $500,000 in 2019 value). as a full-time photographer. He was developing new varieties of
delphinium, which in 1936 had been the subject of his first exhibition at the
Museum of Modern Art, and the only flower exhibition ever held there. When the
United States joined the global conflict, Steichen, who had come out of the first World War an Army
Colonel, was refused for active service because of his age. Later, invited by the Navy to serve as Director of the
Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, he was commissioned a
Lieutenant-Commander in January 1942. Steichen selected for his unit six officer-photographers from the industry (sometimes irreverently called "Steichen's chickens"), including photographers
Wayne Miller and
Charles Fenno Jacobs. A collection of 172
silver gelatin photographs taken by the Unit under his leadership is held at the
Harry Ransom Center at the
University of Texas at Austin. This was followed in January 1945 by
Power in the Pacific: Battle Photographs of our Navy in Action on the Sea and In the Sky. Steichen was released from Active Duty (under honorable conditions) on December 13, 1945, at the rank of
Captain. For his service during
World War II, he was awarded the
World War II Victory Medal,
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with 2 campaign stars),
American Campaign Medal, and numerous other awards.
Museum of Modern Art In the summer of 1929, Museum of Modern Art director
Alfred H. Barr Jr. had included a department devoted to photography in a plan presented to the Trustees. Though not put in place until 1940, it became the first department of photography in a museum devoted to twentieth-century art and was headed by
Beaumont Newhall. On the strength of attendances of his
propaganda exhibitions
Road to Victory and
Power in the Pacific, and precipitating curator Newhall's resignation along with most of his staff, in 1947, Steichen was appointed Director of Photography until 1962, later assisted by
Grace M. Mayer. His appointment was protested by many who saw him as anti-art photography, one of the most vocal being
Ansel Adams who on April 29, 1946, wrote a letter to Stephen Clark (copied to Newhall) to express his disappointment over Steichen's hiring for the new position of director; "To supplant Beaumont Newhall, who has made such a great contribution to the art through his vast knowledge and sympathy for the medium, with a regime which is inevitably favorable to the spectacular and 'popular' is indeed a body blow to the progress of creative photography." Nevertheless, Ansel Adams' image
Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico was first published in
U.S. Camera Annual 1943, after being selected by Steichen, who was serving as judge for the publication. This gave
Moonrise an audience before its first formal exhibition at the
Museum of Modern Art in 1944. Steichen as director held a strong belief in the local product, of the "liveness of the melting pot of American photography," and worked to expand and organise the collection, inspiring and recognising the 1950s generation while keeping historical shows to a minimum. He worked with
Robert Frank even before his
The Americans was published, exhibited the early work of
Harry Callahan and
Aaron Siskind, and purchased two prints by
Robert Rauschenberg in 1952, ahead of any museum. Comprising over 500 photos that depicted life, love and death in 68 countries, the prologue for its widely purchased catalogue was written by Steichen's brother-in-law,
Carl Sandburg. As had been Steichen's wish, the exhibition was donated to the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, his country of birth.
MoMA exhibitions curated or directed by Steichen The following are exhibitions curated or directed by Steichen during his tenure as Director of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art. (References link to the exhibition page in the museum's archive, with press releases, checklists of the exhibited photographs, and installation views.) • 1947, 30 Sep–7 Dec:
Three Young Photographers:
Leonard McCombe,
Wayne F. Miller,
Homer Page • 1948, 6 Apr–11 Jul: ''In and Out of Focus: A Survey of Today's Photography,'' "including prints by 76 [American] photographers, the first large exhibition organized by Captain Edward J. Steichen, Director of the Museum's Department of Photography." • 1948, 27 Jul–26 Sep:
50 Photographs by 50 Photographers – Landmarks in Photographic History. "50 prints from the Museum Collections that form an abbreviated history of the development of pictorial photography during the past 100 years." • 1948, 29 Sep–28 Nov:
Photo-Secession (American Photography 1902–1910) • 1948/49, 30 Nov–10 Feb:
Photographs by Bill Brandt, Harry Callahan, Ted Croner, Lisette Model • 1949, 8 Feb–1 May:
The Exact Instant. Events and Pages in 100 Years of News Photography • 1949, 26 Apr–24 Jul:
Roots of Photography, comprising works by
Hill & Adamson,
Julia Margaret Cameron and
Henry Fox Talbot. • 1949, 26 Jul–25 Sep:
Realism in Photography. Works by
Ralph Steiner, Wayne F. Miller, Tosh Matsumoto,
Frederick Sommer. • 1949, 11 Oct–15 Nov:
Photographs by Margaret Bourke-White, Helen Levitt, Dorothea Lange, Tana Hoban, Esther Bubley, and Hazel-Frieda Larsen. "Sixty prints by 6 women photographers." • 1950, 29 Nov–15 Jan:
Roots of French Photography • 1950, 24 Jan–19 Mar:
Photographs of Picasso by Gjon Mili and by Robert Capa • 1950, 28 Mar–7 May:
Photography Recent Acquisitions: Stieglitz, Atget • 1950, 9 May–4 Jul:
Color Photography. Survey with
color photographs and transparencies by more than 75 photographers. • 1950, 1 Aug–17 Sep:
Photographs by 51 Photographers. More than 100 newly acquired prints. • 1950, 26 Sep–3 Dec:
Photographs by Lewis Carroll • 1951, 13 Feb–22 Apr:
Korea – The Impact of War in Photographs • 1951, 1 May–4 Jul:
Abstraction in Photography. Featured in an
Photo Arts special issue. • 1951, 12 Jul–12 Aug:
12 Photographers, with 15 prints each by
Berenice Abbott,
A. Adams, Atget,
Mathew Brady (studio), Brandt, Callahan,
Henri Cartier-Bresson,
Walker Evans,
Man Ray, Model,
Irving Penn,
Edward Weston. • 1951, 23 Aug–4 Nov:
Forgotten Photographers, nearly 100 photographs from the
Library of Congress by
Edward S. Curtis,
Frances Benjamin Johnston a. o. • 1951, 20 Nov–12 Dec: ''Memorable '
Life' Photographs,'' catalogue. • 1951/52, 29 Nov–6 Jan:
Christmas Photographs, Christmas sale of prints by Adams, Callahan, Frank, Levitt, Weston a. o. for $10–25. • 1951/52, 18 Dec–24 Feb:
Five French Photographers:
Brassaï, Cartier-Bresson,
Robert Doisneau,
Izis and
Willy Ronis. • 1952, 20 May–1 Sep:
Diogenes with a Camera. First show of a series featuring contemporary American photographers:
W. Eugene Smith, Sommer, Callahan, Weston,
Esther Bubley,
Eliot Porter. • 1952, 5–18 Aug:
Then and Now, 50 photographs 1839–1952 displayed during the convention of the
Photographic Society of America. • 1952/53, 25 Nov–8 Mar:
Diogenes with a Camera II, with Adams, Lange, Tosh Matsumoto, Man Ray,
Aaron Siskind,
Todd Webb. • 1953, 26 Feb–1 Apr:
Always the Young Strangers. 25 never before shown photographers with three to six prints each:
Roy DeCarava,
Saul Leiter,
Leon Levinstein,
Marvin E. Newman,
Naomi Savage a. o. (The title is a quote by Carl Sandburg in honour of his 75th birthday.) • 1953, 26 May–23 Aug:
Postwar European Photography. Over 300 photographs by 78 photographers (
Eva Besnyö,
Édouard Boubat,
Robert Frank,
Ernst Haas,
Nigel Henderson,
Otto Steinert,
Liselotte Strelow,
Jakob Tuggener,
Ed van der Elsken a. o.) • 1955, 24 Jan–8 May:
The Family of Man • 1956, 4 Apr–3 Jun:
Diogenes with a Camera IV, with Marie-Jean Beraud-Villars,
Shirley Burden,
William A. Garnett, and Gustav Schenk. • 1956/57, 24 Oct–13 Jan:
Language of the Wall: Parisian Graffiti Photographed by Brassaï. • 1957/58, 27 Nov–15 Apr:
70 Photographers Look at New York, in collaboration with Grace Mayer • 1958/59, 26 Nov–18 Jan:
Photographs from the Museum Collection, with Abbott, Brady, DeCarava,
Andreas Feininger, Frank, Haas,
Lewis Hine,
Art Kane, Levinstein, Levitt,
Jay Maisel,
Jacob Riis, W. E. Smith, Webb,
Weegee,
Brett Weston, Winogrand,
John Vachon a. m. o., as well as pictures from agencies and institutes like the
U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. • 1960, 1–16 Oct:
Photographs for Collectors. Sales show with "more than 250 prints by 66 photographers...priced at $25 and up." • 1962, 30 Jan–1 Apr:
Harry Callahan and Robert Frank, assisted by Grace M. Mayer. Over 200 prints, and screenings of Frank's films
Pull My Daisy (1959) and
The Sin of Jesus (1961). • 1962, 18 Oct–25 Nov:
The Bitter Years: 1935–1941. 200 photographs selected by "Director Emeritus" Steichen (from 270,000 taken for the F.S.A.) In the latter years of his tenure after her appointment by Steichen as Assistant Curator, it was
Grace M. Mayer from the
Museum of the City of New York, where she had organized about 150 exhibitions, who curated the shows
The Sense of Abstraction (17 Feb–10 Apr 1960), co-directed by Kathleen Haven, the museum staff designer since 1955. Then Mayer organized Steichens only solo-show during his time at the museum,
Steichen the Photographer, (28 Mar–30 May 1961),
Diogenes with a Camera V (26 Sep–12 Nov 1961),
50 Photographs by 50 Photographers, a third survey of the museum's collection (3 Apr–15 May 1962), and a series of four installations called
A Bid for Space (1960 to 1963), which were designed by Kathleen Haven. Haven had also been responsible for the design of
The Family of Man, she worked two years on, as well as
Diogenes with a Camera (II, III and IV), the exhibition of Brassaï's graffiti photographs, and the 1958 collection survey. Steichen hired
John Szarkowski to be his successor at the Museum of Modern Art on July 1, 1962. On his appointment, Szarkowski promoted Mayer to Curator. ==Later life==