Introduction
Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. Steichen was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Together Stieglitz and Steichen opened the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession, which eventually became known as 291 after its address. His photos of gowns for the magazine Art et Décoration in 1911 are regarded as the first modern fashion photographs ever published. From 1923 to 1938, Steichen was a photographer for the Condé Nast magazines Vogue and Vanity Fair while also working for many advertising agencies including J. Walter Thompson. During these years, Steichen was regarded as the best known and highest paid photographer in the world. In 1944, he directed the war documentary The Fighting Lady, which won the 1945 Academy Award for Best Documentary. After World War II, Steichen was Director of the Department of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art until 1962. While at MoMA, he curated and assembled the exhibit The Family of Man, which was seen by nine million people.
Wikidata
Q313899
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Introduction
Steichen was born on March 27, 1879 in Luxembourg and grew up in Hancock, Michigan when his family emigrated to the United States in 1881. Steichen was apprenticed to a Milwaukee, Wisconsin lithographer from 1894-1898. His interest in photography began in 1895, and during subsequent years, he exhibited in various photographic exhibitions in the United States and Europe. His early style reflects his training as a painter, using soft tonality and lighting on his subjects. In 1900, Steichen became a naturalized American citizen, and in 1901 he was elected a member of the Linked Ring, a pictorialist society in London, England, United Kingdom. In 1902, Steichen was a founding member of the Photo-Secession Movement, along with Alfred Stieglitz. In 1905, Steichen and Stieglitz opened the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession "291" on Fifth Avenue in New York City, New York. From 1906 to 1914, Steichen was working as a freelance painter and photographer in Paris, France, but returned to the United States on the eve of World War I with the desire to become a photojournalist in the tradition of Matthew Brady. From 1914 to 1919, Steichen was an aerial reconnaissance photographer and director of photographic services for the United States Air Force. In 1920 Steichen abandoned painting completely for photography and from 1923 to 1938, Steichen had a studio in New York City, New York. He also worked as the chief photographer for Vogue magazine, creating such iconic fashion images as his portrait of Gloria Swanson behind a black lace veil. He became a Lieutenant Commander in United States Navy in 1942 and he organized the War Photography Department. From 1945 to 1946, Steichen was the director of the Naval Photographic Institute organizing two exhibitions for MOMA: "Road to Victory" (1942), a photographic portrait of The United States on which he collaborated with his brother-in-law, poet Carl Sandburg, and "Power In The Pacific"(1945). Steichen abandoned his own photography practice in 1947 to become the director of the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York. He held this position until 1962. He died on March 25, 1973.
Nationalities
American, undetermined, Luxembourgeois
Gender
Male
Roles
Artist, Military personnel's, Curator, Designer, Photojournalist, Painter, Photographer
Names
Edward Jean Steichen, Edward Steichen, Edouard J. Steichen, Eduard J. Steichen, Eduard Jean Steichen, Edowado Sutaiken, Edowadpo Sutaiken, Eduoard J. Steichen, Eduard-Jean Steichen, Edowādo Sutaiken
ULAN
500000431
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Information from Getty’s Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License