About the Artist

Explore life events
  • Edward Steichen. Self-Portrait with Studio Camera. c. 1917. Gelatin silver print, 13 1/2 x 10 5/8" (34.3 x 27 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Sandro Mayer, by exchange (MoMA 1868.2001). © 2014 The Estate of Edward Steichen/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Alternate Name(s) Éduard Jean Steichen (Birth Name)
    Eduard J. Steichen (Alternate Name)

Meeting Points

Artist Chronology

March 27, 1879
Born
At location: Edward Steichen
Luxembourg
1880–89
The Steichen family lives in Hancock, Michigan
At location: Edward Steichen
Hancock
1894–1900
Apprentices at the American Fine Art Company, a lithographic firm
At location: Edward Steichen
Milwaukee
1895
Buys a Kodak Detective Camera and a Primo folding 4 x 5 cm view camera, and begins making and selling photographic portraits
At location: Edward Steichen
Milwaukee
1896
Organizes and becomes president of the Milwaukee Art Students' League
At location: Edward Steichen
Milwaukee
1896
Begins exhibiting his paintings in a department store, and his photographs at salons
Participant: Edward Steichen
Philadelphia Chicago
1900
Edward Steichen visits Alfred Stieglitz on the recommendation of Clarence White; Stieglitz purchases three photographs by Steichen
New York
1900
The New School of American Photography, organized by F. Holland Day, at the Royal Photographic Society
London
April 15–November 12, 1900
Exposition universelle
Visitor: Edward Steichen
Paris
1900–02
Studies painting at Académie Julian
At location: Edward Steichen
Paris
1901
Meets Auguste Rodin; attends weekly gatherings in Meudon
At location: Edward Steichen
Meudon
1902
Befriends F. Holland Day; learns the gum bichromate process, popular at that time in the Photo-Club de Paris
At location: Edward Steichen
Paris
1902
Solo exhibition at La Maison des Artistes
Participant: Edward Steichen
Paris
March 1902
American Pictorial Photography: Arranged by the Photo-Secession at the National Arts Club
Participant: Edward Steichen
Organizer: Alfred Stieglitz
New York
1902–05
Opens a commercial studio at 291 Fifth Avenue
At location: Edward Steichen
New York
1903
Third San Francisco Photographic Salon, at the Mark Hopkins Institute
Brigman and members of the New York Photo-Secession group become acquainted with each other through this exhibition.
San Francisco
April 1903
Camera Work issue no. 2 is dedicated to Edward Steichen's work
Contributor: Edward Steichen
New York
1905–17
Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen establish the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession at 291 Fifth Avenue
Steichen moves his studio to 293 Fifth Avenue and designs the interiors of the new gallery at 291. The gallery exhibits modern art by European and American artists.
New York
November–December 1905
Inaugural exhibition of the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession
Participant: Edward Steichen
Organizer: Alfred Stieglitz
New York
1906–13
Lives in Paris and Voulangis
At location: Edward Steichen
Voulangis Paris
March 7–April 5, 1906
Solo exhibition at the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession
Participant: Edward Steichen
New York
April 1906
Camera Work issue no. 14 is dedicated to Edward Steichen's work
Contributor: Edward Steichen
New York
1907
Writes an article on the autochrome process for Camera Work; exhibits autochromes at the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in November
Participant: Edward Steichen
New York
March–April, 1907
Constantin Brancusi works as Auguste Rodin's assistant and meets Edward Steichen
Paris
1908
Attends a presentation by the Lumière brothers on the autochrome process
At location: Edward Steichen
Paris
1909–10
Anne Brigman travels to New York, where she visits Alfred Stieglitz and meets Clarence White, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Edward Steichen, and Gertrude Käsebier
New York
November 3–December 1, 1910
International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography, at Albright Art Gallery
Buffalo
1911
Takes first fashion photographs of gowns by designer Paul Poiret for Art et décoration
Contributor: Edward Steichen
Paris
March 9–May 18, 1913
Salon des Indépendants
Edward Steichen purchases Constantin Brancusi's bronze, Maiastra
Participant: Constantin Brancusi
Visitor: Edward Steichen
Paris
April/July 1913
Camera Work nos. 42/43, a double issue, is dedicated to Edward Steichen's work
Contributor: Edward Steichen
New York
1913–17
Lives in New York; pursues work as a photojournalist
At location: Edward Steichen
New York
Late 1914
Constantin Brancusi stays at Edward Steichen's house due to the outbreak of war
Voulangis
1917–18
Recruited as a first liutenant in the Army Signal Corps' Photographic Section of the Air Service, Aerial Photography Division; promoted to chief and major in 1918
At location: Edward Steichen
Paris
1922–73
Lives in New York
At location: Edward Steichen
New York
1923–37
Chief photographer at Condé Nast; makes fashion and celebrity photographs for Vogue and Vanity Fair
At location: Edward Steichen
New York
1927
Lee Miller models for Vogue photographers Georges Lepape, Edward Steichen, Arnold Genthe, and Nickolas Muray
At location: Edward Steichen, Lee Miller
New York
May 18–July 7, 1929
Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (FiFo) at Städtische Ausstellungshallen

Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zurich
August 28–September 22, 1929

Im Lichthof des Ehemaligen Kunstgewerbemuseums, Prinz-Albrechs-Strasse 7, Berlin
October 19–November 17, 1929

Stadtmuseum, Danzig
(dates unknown)

Österreichisches Museum, Vienna
February 20–March 31, 1930

Agram, Zagreb
April 5–14, 1930

Münchner Bund/Verein Ausstellungspark München E.V. (as part of Internationale Ausstellung. Das Lichtbild), Munich
June 5–September 7, 1930

Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo
April 1931

Asahi Shimbun, Osaka
July 1–7, 1931

Stuttgart
November 1930
Photography 1930, organized by Lincoln Kerstein, at the Harvard Society for Contemporary Art
Cambridge
May 3–31, 1932
Murals by American Painters and Photographers at The Museum of Modern Art
New York
July 27–September 7, 1932
Twenty-seven Photographers at Wertheim Gallery
London
October–November 1932
First National Exhibition of Photographs for Commerce, Industry and Science, at the Art Center
New York
May 27–November 12, 1933
Century of Progress International Photographic Salon at the Chicago Camera Club
Korth is the official photographer of the exposition.
Chicago
1934
Begins serving on the selection committee for the U.S. Camera annuals
At location: Edward Steichen
New York
Mid-late 1930s
Anton Bruehl and Edward Steichen are contributing editors at U.S. Camera
New York
1934
Group exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland
January 16–March 1, 1936
Exposition internationale de la photographie contemporaine at Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Paris
June 24–July 1, 1936
Edward Steichen's Delphiniums at The Museum of Modern Art
Participant: Edward Steichen
New York
March 17–April 18, 1937
Photography: 1839–1937, organized by Beaumont Newhall, at The Museum of Modern Art
New York
December 31, 1940–January 12, 1941
Sixty Photographs: A Survey of Camera Aesthetics at The Museum of Modern Art
New York
1942–46
Lieutenant Commander in the Unites States Naval Reserve for naval photography and publicity; promoted to captain and Director of the Navy Photographic Institute in 1945
At location: Edward Steichen
New York
April 1943
Lisette Model and Edward Steichen meet
District of Columbia
July 2–October 31, 1943
Road to Victory, curated by Edward Steichen, at The Museum of Modern Art
Designer: Herbert Bayer
Organizer: Edward Steichen
New York
January 23–March 20, 1945
Power in the Pacific: Battle Photographs of our Navy in Action on the Sea and in the Sky at the The Museum of Modern Art
Organizer: Edward Steichen
New York
June 20, 1945–June 23, 1946
The Museum Collection of Photographs at The Museum of Modern Art
New York
1947–62
Appointed Director of Photography, The Museum of Modern Art
At location: Edward Steichen
New York
June 10–August 31, 1947
Alfred Stieglitz Exhibition: His Collection at The Museum of Modern Art
New York
July 27–September 26, 1948
50 Photographs by 50 Photographers at The Museum of Modern Art
New York
September 29–November 28, 1948
Photo Secession (American Photography 1902–1910) at The Museum of Modern Art
New York
1950
What Is a Modern Photograph? symposium at The Museum of Modern Art
Participant: Charles Sheeler
Organizer: Edward Steichen
New York
1952
Edward Steichen visits August Sander to choose prints for the Family of Man exhibition
Windeck
January 24–May 8, 1955
The Family of Man at The Museum of Modern Art
Organizer: Edward Steichen
New York
March 25, 1973
Dies
At location: Edward Steichen
New York

Walther Photographs

View this artist's works in MoMA's Online Collection
For best results, please enable JavaScript.