This exhibition covers a period when Steichen was the chief photographer for Conde' Nast Publications and includes celebrity portraits and fashion photographs taken for Vanity Fair and Vogue. Considered one of the greatest portrait photographers at that time, his portraits depict a rich slice of cultural history.
This December, the Whitney Museum of American Art will mount an
exhibition of works by Edward Steichen, the pioneering American photographer best known for his
striking portraits from the early-twentieth century. Organized by senior curatorial assistant Carrie
Springer, the exhibition includes celebrity portraits and fashion photographs taken for Vanity Fair and
Vogue, images shot for advertising campaigns, and a selection of photographs that show the artist’s
interest in the natural world. The approximately forty-five works that comprise Edward Steichen in the
1920s and 1930s: A Recent Acquisition were a generous gift to the Whitney from Richard and Jackie
Hollander in memory of Ellyn Hollander. The exhibition will be on view from December 6 through
February 2014 in the Museum’s Anne & Joel Ehrenkranz Gallery.
This exhibition covers a period when Steichen was the chief photographer for Condé Nast Publications,
a position he held from 1923 to 1937. Considered one of the greatest portrait photographers at that time,
Steichen was assigned to photograph famous actors, writers, artists, statesmen, and society figures for
Vogue and Vanity Fair magazines. His portraits—including iconic images of Winston Churchill, Paul
Robeson, Marlene Dietrich, Eugene O’Neill, and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, among others which will be
on view— depict a rich slice of cultural history.
At the same time, Steichen began shooting photographs for advertising that are elegant and natural
representations of objects and people. Using starkly contrasting light and shadow, he created a dramatic
visual framework for his subjects. These qualities are apparent in Steichen’s nude for Cannon Towels
and in his Ad for Coty Lipstick, both of which will be on display.
Also included in this exhibition are several Steichen images of flowers, gardens, and fruit that he made
for his own interest, and reflect the formal qualities apparent in Steichen’s commercial work. Seen
together the works in this exhibition demonstrate Steichen’s vision of photography as both an aesthetic
form and a vehicle for mass communication.
About the Artist
Edward Steichen (1879–1973) began his career as a painter and a photographer, producing atmospheric
and expressive photographs with a deliberate painterly appearance. After serving in World War I as an
aerial photographer, he abandoned painting and developed a more modernist approach to photography,
focusing on making images for the printed page. After serving as the chief photographer for Condé
Nast publications from 1923 to 1937, Steichen resigned from his post and, at the age of fifty-nine, gave
up his New York studio.
During World War II, Steichen volunteered for service, and became director of the U.S. Navy
Photographic Institute, in charge of all Navy Combat photography. In 1947, he was appointed director of
the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art, where he worked for fifteen years and
curated more than forty exhibitions. His most famous show was The Family of Man (1955), a wide-
ranging exhibition of photographs by artists from around the world linked together a shared human
experience. MoMA also mounted an exhibition of Steichen’s own work in 1961, the year before he retired.
In 1963 President John F. Kennedy presented Steichen with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the
highest honor the government bestows to a civilian.
Press Office:
Stephen Soba (212) 570-3633 pressoffice@whitney.org
Opening on Dec 6th
Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, New York
Hours: Wen-Sun 11am-6pm Fri 11am-9pm
Admission: General admission $20| Ages 19–25, 65 and over, Full-time students $16| 18 and under, Members Free