Edward Steichen American, born Luxembourg, 1879–1973
About this artwork
At a time when photography was still not considered a serious art, a group of photographers known as the Photo-Secessionists tried to demonstrate the hand-crafted possibilities of photographic printing. The moody darkness and dramatic highlights of this photograph emerge from visible brushstrokes, the result of the gum bichromate process. Although Edward Steichen was both a painter and a photographer, he chose to represent himself with palette and brush, not with the seemingly more technical tool of the camera. Steichen advanced the Photo-Secessionist cause through photographs like this as well as the exhibitions and publication Camera Work that resulted from his collaboration with close friend Alfred Stieglitz.
For more on Edward Steichen’s work in the Art Institute’s collection visit the website: Edward Steichen’s World War I Years.For more on the Alfred Stieglitz collection at the Art Institute, along with in-depth object information, please visit the website: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection.
Date
Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.
Steichen, Edward. 1963. “A Life in Photography.” Museum of Modern Art/Doubleday & Company. pl. 18.
Longwell, Dennis. 1978. “Steichen: The Master Prints: 1895–1914: The Symbolist Period.” Museum of Modern Art/New York Graphic Society. p. 48, pl. 13.
Cookman, Claude. “Edward Steichen’s Self-portraits.” History of Photography 22, 1 (Spring 1998), pp. 65-71, illus. p. 67.
Greenough, Sarah, Joel Snyder, David Travis and Colin Westerbeck. 1989. “On the Art of Fixing a Shadow: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Photography.” Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art/The Art Institute of Chicago. p. 201, cat. 173.
Wood, James N. and Teri J. Edelstein. 1997. “The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide.” Publications Department of the Art Institute of Chicago. p 174.
Kosinski, Dorothy. 1999. “The Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso.” Dallas Museum of Art/Yale University Press. p.104, fig. 67.
Smith, Joel. 1999. “Edward Steichen : the early years.” Princeton University Press, Princeton N.J. p. 20, fig 12.
Wood, James N. 2000. “Treasures from The Art Institute of Chicago.” Hudson Hills Press, Inc. p. 230.
Wood, James N. 2003. “The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide - Revised Edition.” Publications Department of the Art Institute of Chicago. p 174.
Severson, Douglas G. 2005. “’Treated by Steichen: The Palladium Prints of Alfred Stieglitz,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies/Yale University Press. vol. 31, no. 2, p. 78, fig. 5.
Brandow, Todd, and William A. Ewing. 2007. “Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography.” FEP Editions LLC/ W.W. Norton & Company. p. 44, fig. 23.
Barter, Judith A. 2009. “Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago.” Exh. cat. the Art Institute of Chicago. ch. 4, fig. 27, pl. 131.
Matthew S. Witkovsky et al., “The Art Institute of Chicago Field Guide to Photography and Media,” eds. Antawan I. Byrd, Elizabeth Siegel, and Carl Fuldner, pl. 268, p. 284 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2023).
Art Institute of Chicago, “The Portrait Photograph,” January 1-March 2, 1975.
Art Institute of Chicago, “Photographs from the Permanent Collection,” March 20–May 30, 1976. (Miles Barth)
Chicago, Illinois, Art Institute of Chicago, “A History of Photography from Chicago Collection,” April 24–June 6, 1982.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, The Minneapolis Museum of Art, “Camera Work: Process and Image,” August 31-November 3, 1985; traveled to Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, November 22, 1985-February 2, 1986.
Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art, “On the Art of Fixing a Shadow: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Photography,” May 7–July 30, 1989; traveled to The Art Institute of Chicago, September 16–November 26, 1989; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 21, 1989–February 25, 1990.
New York, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, “Edward Steichen (1879–1973),” October 5, 2001–February 4, 2002.
St Louis, MO, Saint Louis Art Museum, “Impressionist Camera: Pictorial Photography in Europe, 1888-1918,” February 19-May 14, 2006.
Paris, France, Musee du Jeu de Paume, “Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography,” October 9–December 30, 2007; traveled to Lausanne, France, Musee de l’Elysee, January 18–March 30, 2008; Madrid, Spain, Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, June 24, 2008–September 22, 2008.
Art Institute of Chicago, “Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago,” November 7, 2009–January 31, 2010. (Judith Barter)
Art Institute of Chicago, “Sharp, Clear Pictures: Edward Steichen’s World War I and Condé Nast Years,” June 28–September 28, 2014. (Michal Raz-Russo)
Art Institute of Chicago, “Alfred Stieglitz and the 19th Century,” October 31, 2015-March 27, 2016.
Art Institute of Chicago, “A Field Guide to Photography and Media,” Nov. 10, 2022–Apr. 10, 2023.
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