Edward Steichen Archive

Overview of the Collection

Arrangement

Index Terms

Series I. Personal, Family, and Correspondence

Arrangement

The series is arranged into six subseries, in approximate chronological order of the subject of the materials, corresponding to GMM's original organization of personal and family materials at the beginning of the ESA, followed by two distinct groups of correspondence she had placed with these materials.

The six subseries are as follows:

Subseries I.A. Luxembourg
Subseries I.B. United States and Paris
Subseries I.C. Steichen family
Subseries I.D. Carl Sandburg
Subseries I.E. Umpawaug property
Subseries I.F. Important correspondence
Subseries I.F.i. Culled correspondence from ES home files
Subseries I.F.ii. Photocopied correspondence from other collections

Scope and Content

Series I includes materials relating to the Steichen family in Luxembourg both before their emigration to the United States and later visits and contact there, including the permanent installation of The Family of Man at Château de Clervaux, as well as background information on the country; ES's early life and art education in the United States and Paris; his three wives, two daughters, and their families; his sister Lilian and brother-in-law Carl Sandburg; the Steichen property, Umpawaug, in Redding, CT, including the donation of part of it to the Audubon Society in 1971, the 1973 dedication of a park on it named for ES, the property's owners after ES's death, and the Steichen dogs; and two collections of correspondence: one apparently culled from ES's personal collection and one consisting of photocopies of ES's correspondence with Alfred Stieglitz (copies from Yale University) and Eugene Meyer (copies from the Library of Congress).

For additional documentation of The Family of Man's installation at Château de Clervaux, see Series V.B. For additional photographs of Steichen family members, see "Bequest of Edward Steichen" folders in Series VI.B.

Subseries I.A. Luxembourg

Arrangement

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

Annotated by Kate Rodina Steichen as given to her in Luxembourg, April 1980

Photocopied birth certificate, baptismal record; GMM queries and replies

Photographic prints, correspondence

Correspondence and clippings; includes postcard from Eric Sandeen, author of Picturing an Exhibition: The Family of Man and 1950s America (1995)

Snapshots with distant family members, residents of home village

Clippings

Gag article inserted on ES's birth date; removed from folder I.A.6

Editor of the influential photography publication U.S. Camera from 1935-1969, Maloney had regularly featured ES in its pages and was a lifelong supporter and promoter of his work, as well as a member of MoMA's Photography Committee; 13 uncaptioned color slides.

Catalogues from Exposition Edward Steichen; Edward Steichen: Photographies Originales; Visions Sans Frontiers

Clippings

Subseries I.B. United States and Paris

Arrangement

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

Photocopies of correspondence researching ES's link to the area

GMM correspondence confirming dates of residence; photocopied clippings

Clippings re: Art Students' League; ephemera from 1970s dedication of ES Court, at University of Wisconsin, Madison

1972 correspondence re: ES's first art exhibit in Milwaukee

1989 review of exhibit about Academie Julien

Photostats

GMM notes; photocopies

Article on where ES, James Durante, and James Farley would return to for a final visit; removed from folder I.B.8

Includes photocopies from The Photo-Beacon

Photostat of article by "Eduard J. Steichen"; removed from folder I.B.10

Photocopied correspondence with ES; GMM correspondence with son regarding 1900 travels, and founding of Milwaukee Art Students League. A friend of ES's from Milwaukee who traveled with him on his first visit to Paris, Bjornkrantz took a much-reproduced photograph of ES riding a bicycle (see Series VIII).

Disbound "Album" with original boards; original pages, photostats, photocopies. The pages had been previously housed individually in glassine folders. Brittle newspaper clippings and other items were adhered to the highly acidic album pages. They are now encapsulated in archival sleeves. Some pages are annotated by GMM; all are extremely fragile. Some of the glassine envelopes had been numbered; photocopies of those precede the items they describe. Envelope 22 also bears a Study Collection number from the Department of Photography; other numbered items may also have been photographed for use by the Department.

Envelope in ES's hand; includes clipping about ES with label from Henry Romeike clipping service: Hawk Eye, Burlington, IA. Removed from folder I.B.13.

Subseries I.C. Steichen family

Arrangement

The subseries is in order of ES's family involvement: material relating to each of his wives Clara Smith, Dana Glover, and Joanna Taub is followed by that about his two daughters Mary and Kate Rodina; other more distant relatives; and a final folder of mixed family-related materials.

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

Scope and Content

As in the rest of the Archive, there is little original material in the folders on ES's daughters (I.C. 9-17), except photographs - donated by them - of them and their families (some taken by ES), and correspondence especially with Kate Rodina Steichen. The latter attests to the warm and humor-filled relationship she enjoyed with GMM.

Documentation of Mary Steichen Calderone (folders I.C. 9-16) includes her annual Christmas letters to family and friends (and some from her daughter Francesca and family), as well as information on her children and grandchildren, and their relationships to ES. The clippings and other ephemera pertain mostly to Mary's role as founder of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), and an outspoken supporter of open conversation, and access to information, about sex and sexuality during the 1960s and 1970s.

Photograph; photocopied ALS ES-CS (9/17/03) during their engagement; wedding announcement, divorce decree (photocopies); correspondence

Photograph "Mary and her mother," gift of Dr. Mary Steichen Calderone

"The Blue Sky:" mounted photograph with "Photography by Steichen" stamp; gift of Dr. Mary Steichen Calderone

GMM correspondence, clippings. Predominantly information on Joanna Steichen's 1981 Network for Learning workshop "How to Marry Money," and press coverage; 1983 book, Marrying Up: An American Dream - and Reality. Also clippings on May/December marriages including ES and Joanna Steichen, among other notable couples; and Joanna Steichen's later writings about her life and relationship with ES.

Removed from folder I.C.5

Clippings and background re: Network for Learning workshop: "How to Marry Money"

Standard audio cassette, "How to Marry Money;" book, Marrying Up: An American Dream - and Reality

Family photographs, by ES and others. Photographs also show her mother, Clara Smith Steichen (see folder I.C.1). Some are noted in GMM's hand as gifts of Mrs. Flora S.[tieglitz] Straus, niece of photographer Alfred Stieglitz.

Photographs of Mary [then Martin] and daughter Nell Martin

Mounted photograph of Mary [then Martin] at Umpawaug with daughters Nell and Joan, stamped "Photography by Steichen;" gift of Dr. Mary Steichen Calderone

Correspondence, GMM notes; daughter Francesca's family Christmas letters

Clippings, invitations related to SIECUS

Christmas letters

Photographs

Photographs, by ES and others

Removed from folder I.C.17

Clippings, correspondence

Clippings, correspondence with Felicien and Michele Steichen

Includes GMM note on her death date; removed from folder I.C.20

Undated AL Joanna Taub Steichen with list of ES family members and typed transcript; GMM notes on Voulangis house and Steichens with Stieglitz at Lake George

Subseries I.D. Carl Sandburg

Arrangement

The subseries begins with a run of Sandburg portraits in numerical order (some of which are missing), followed by photocopies of correspondence between ES and CS in the collection of the University of Illinois/Urbana Champaign (UI/UC), and then additional materials in chronological order. A folder of published material about CS ends the subseries.

The dates provided for folders are the dates of their contents' creation.

Scope and Content

The subseries includes photocopied correspondence (see Arrangement Note), clippings, and notices about the poet's life, work, and death, including his address to Congress (he was the first private citizen to do so) on the occasion of Abraham Lincoln's 150th anniversary, February 12, 1959; his death in 1967; and the 1968 exhibition Carl Sandburg: A Tribute, at the Hallmark Gallery in New York City. Because many of the photographs of CS were by ES, among GMM's duties was handling permissions requests for their use and reproduction by a variety of publishers and broadcasters.

The portraits in folders I.D.1-5 were originally housed individually in glassine sleeves numbered in GMM's hand according to her typed list ("Carl Sandburg items in the Steichen Archive at the Museum of Modern Art"; folder I.D.1). She may have created the list to document the images' placement in Sandburg: Photographers View Carl Sandburg, edited by ES, and published by Harcourt, Brace and World in 1966. That numbering has been transferred in pencil to the back of each print as "GMM: 1; GMM: 2", and so on. The numbers on the back of each print enclosed in a square refer to a list of images chosen for inclusion in a 1978 National Educational Television planned documentary on CS (see folder I.D.7 for the list and associated correspondence).

Includes GMM numbered caption list

UI/UC photocopies, with GMM correspondence (1986-1987); includes letters from Dana Smith Steichen. Items are ordered as received from UI/UC, in approximate chronological order; each yellow page indicates the beginning of a new folder.

The photocopied items are in approximate chronological order, except for some correspondence from the period 1900-1920.

Not taken by ES

CS, ES and Lilian Steichen Sandburg, Marie Steichen

Including coverage of CS's death (July 22, 1967) and memorial service at Lincoln Memorial

GMM correspondence

Clippings, including photocopies from Gallery's clipping service provided to the ESA as a record of the exhibition's American press coverage. Although repetitive, they provide an idea of the country-wide appeal and recognition of Sandburg one year after his death.

Installation photographs, correspondence

GMM correspondence with publishers and broadcasters to use ES images of CS

GMM; copies of CS correspondence to ES

Poems by Helga Sandburg; transcribed letter CS-Lilian Steichen (1908); Kate Rodina Steichen and Penelope Niven correspondence to GMM: Niven consulted the Sandburg archives at Connemara as background for her 1991 book Carl Sandburg: A Biography; in 1997 Niven published Steichen: A Biography.

Correspondence, including numbered list of portraits

Book Bulletin of the Chicago Public Library; Carl Sandburg Farm National Historic Site: A Proposal; Carl Sandburg, by Mark Van Doren

Subseries I.E. Umpawaug property

Arrangement

The subseries is arranged chronologically, with two folders of information on ES's dogs placed at the end.

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

Scope and Content

The subseries includes GMM's documentation of the Umpawaug property, in Redding, CT, before, during, and after ES's lifetime, including the derivation of its name, the house's construction, and the disposition of some of the Steichens' land after ES's death. The house was designed by architects Almus Evans (from the firm of Evans, Moore, & Woodbridge) and Louis Gelders in a modernist style and completed in 1939. Some of GMM's 1972 correspondence was directed to Chris Brown, who worked at the Steichen's home as a secretary and aide from February 1964 through August 1972; and to Bobbi Carrey, who assisted Joanna Steichen in the disposition of some of ES's photographs after his death.

Historical Note

In 1971, a series of local hearings was held to approve the Steichens' sale of 117 acres of their land to Redding Open Lands Inc. (ROLI), which then donated 43.5 acres of wetlands to the Audubon Society of Connecticut. In August 1973, these acres were dedicated as the Edward Steichen Wildlife Preserve, with musical performances by Paul Winter and Mary Travers. Kate Rodina Steichen attended the event. ES's ashes were later buried on the property.

The property's name on the letterhead is "Umpawaug Plant Breeding Farm." See Series VII.B for information on, and extensive photographic documentation of, the property's use in ES's 1930s delphinium-breeding experiments.

Removed from folder I.E.2

Copies of blueprints; GMM note that they are owned by Neil Patterson.

Includes correspondence with ES's printer Noel Deeks, who had worked at the house during the period when some early negatives were reportedly destroyed.

ES (by Dana Steichen?); Kate Rodina Steichen at 1973 dedication; photographs annotated by Noel Deeks

The b/w photo is inscribed to ES "with greatest respect"

Mostly from Redding Pilot: local debate and vote over land sale; ES's 93rd birthday

Redding Open Lands Inc.'s property donation to CT Audubon Society; ES Memorial Wildlife Preserve dedication; study of preserve

Clippings and information on the house and purchasers Neil and Ippy Patterson; Ippy Patterson drawing portfolio

Photographs: dogs, ES with dogs

Includes image of ES with dog; with invitation to the exhibition The Dog Observed: Photographs 1844-1983, September 1984

GMM research, clippings

Subseries I.F. Important correspondence

Arrangement

The subseries is organized in two parts:

Subseries F.i. Culled correspondence from ES personal files
Subseries F.ii. Photocopied ES correspondence from other collections

The dates provided for folders are the dates of their contents' creation.

A list of photographers represented in The Family of Man, and a scrapbook of clippings documenting ES's search for photographs to include in the exhibition, were originally housed in the same box with these materials. They have been relocated to Series V.B.i. ES may have given them to GMM at the same time as the collected correspondence, or they may have been misfiled here.

Subseries I.F.i. Culled Correspondence from ES home files

Arrangement

GMM had organized the materials into individual folders for each letter of the alphabet, and one devoted entirely to correspondence of Wayne Miller. The original folder containing his photocopied letters was marked in her hand "made available by Wayne Miller, 1975." Letters have been grouped together here in pairs and threes, and only notable correspondents are listed in the folder notes. Some documents were misfiled alphabetically, and have been relocated to their correct order. The last folder (folder I.F.i.16) contains a list "Correspondence found in Steichen Archives" that is not typed on GMM's characteristic Olivetti Lettera and probably postdates her organization of the materials.

Scope and Content

The letters in the subseries appear to have been culled from personal correspondence ES would have had at home in Connecticut, and include originals, carbon copies, and photocopies. Many are annotated in GMM's hand as gifts of ES to the Archive in 1972. The date ranges for the folders are those of the letters themselves, not the period referred to, as elsewhere in the series. The names mentioned are not a complete listing, but provide an idea of the range of ES's famous and notable contacts in the fields of photography (Cecil Beaton, Brassai, Harry Callahan, Alfred Stieglitz, Minor White), entertainment (actors Charlie Chaplin and Adolphe Menjou, Walt Disney), literature and publishing (author Willa Cather, playwright Eugene O'Neill, publisher Ken McCormick), and politics (Dwight D. Eisenhower, Adlai Stevenson).

Many are thank you notes sent to ES acknowledging receipt of a print of the sitter's portrait. Such a "high point" collection, removed from its original context and grouped together because of the fame of the senders, represents an older style of collecting and organization that does not reflect modern archival precepts of original order or the maintenance of a document's physical or historical context or provenance.

Includes Alexander Alland, Cecil Beaton, Brassai, William A. Burden

Includes Harry Callahan, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Willa Cather, Charlie Chaplin, Ivan Chermayeff, E. Gordon Craig, Frank Crowninshield

Includes Roy deCarava, Jacob Deschin, Walt Disney, David Douglas Duncan, Dwight D. Eisenhower

Includes Kay and Phil Graham, Fritz Gruber

Includes Langston Hughes

Includes Lincoln Kirstein

Includes Dorothea Lange (TL DL-ES [9/25/1958] datelined Saigon, Viet-Nam, on the effect of The Family of Man), Herbert Lehman, John Lewis, Sinclair Lewis

Includes Tom Maloney, John Marin, Grace M. Mayer, Adolphe Menjou, Ken McCormick, Agnes Meyer, Wright Morris

Includes Condé Nast, Dorothy Norman (photocopied TLS DN-ES [8/13/1946] about ES's rift with Stieglitz)

Includes Georgia O'Keeffe, Eugene and Carlotta Monterey O'Neill

Includes Mary C. [Mrs. Nelson] Rockefeller, Auguste Rodin (photocopy)

Includes Charles Sheeler, Carmen (Mrs. W. Eugene) Smith, Carmel Snow, Alfred Stieglitz (envelope only), Adlai Stevenson, Leopold Stokowski, Paul Strand, Roy Stryker

Includes Paul Taylor, Carl Van Vechten, Lila Wallace, [Rabbi] Stephen Weiss, Edward Weston, Monroe Wheeler, Minor White

Typed list "Correspondence found in Steichen Archives," not typed on GMM's characteristic Olivetti Lettera, probably postdates her organization of the materials.

Subseries I.F.ii. Photocopied correspondence from other collections

Arrangement

The Stieglitz and Meyer correspondence was originally unfoldered; it has been divided as appropriate for file size and ease of access. The original letters to AS had been numbered consecutively, but not all are included here; GMM also numbered them in pencil on the back and many are annotated in her hand with clarifications as to people, places, and/or dates. The dates given are approximate, since many of the letters are undated.

Scope and Content

The subseries consists of photocopies of correspondence from ES to AS (copies from the Alfred Stieglitz/Georgia O'Keeffe Archive at Yale University) as well as correspondence ES and Joanna Steichen sent to and received from financier and patron Eugene Meyer and his wife Agnes Ernst Meyer (copies from the Eugene Meyer papers at the Library of Congress).

GMM research and correspondence in finding and amassing ES correspondence

#28-110

#111-187

Includes list of undated letters, subjects, and possible dates; #188-280, unnumbered

#284-354

Series II. Early Photography and Design Work

Arrangement

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

The series is arranged in three subseries:

Subseries II.A. Photo-Secession, Camera Work, introduction of modern art to America
Subseries II.B. World War I period
Subseries II.C. Early design work

Scope and Content

Series II includes research into, and documentation of, ES's early photographic work in New York and Paris; his affiliation with Alfred Stieglitz in the establishment of the Photo-Secession, publication of Camera Work, Gallery 291 and the introduction of modern art from Europe to the United States, and their eventual rift; his service during World War I in the U.S. Army Air Service's Photography Section providing aerial reconnaissance photography in France, especially for the second Marne offensive; and his designs for silk fabrics manufactured by the Stehli Company and pianos by Hardman Peck & Co.

The series includes some materials in French and German.

Subseries II.A. Photo-Secession, Camera Work, introduction of modern art to America

GMM's research in the subseries included many of the photographers, artists, and critics associated with ES in this period, including Sadakichi Hartmann, Charles Henry Caffin, Charles Marin, Gertrude Kasebier, and others, represented mostly in exhibition catalogs and clippings, and with some original correspondence. Among her most important sources for this period was research conducted by Robert M. ("Mac") Doty in preparation for the 1960 exhibit and catalogue Photo Secession - Photography as a Fine Art at George Eastman House (now the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House), Rochester, New York. Photocopies of sections of his research are included in many folders in the series.

Clippings, research, GMM correspondence

Exhibition checklist; New York Times review; promotional brochure for print portfolio

Exhibition poster; removed from folder II.A.2; oversize, see flat file

Clippings; GMM notes; catalogue for 1977 exhibition Symbolism of Light: The Photographs of Clarence H. White inscribed to the ESA and GMM by Maynard White

Photocopied items in collection of The Metropolitan Museum; GMM correspondence with BN and others; GMM numbered chronological list of ES shows

GMM typed note: "came with his self-portrait;" shows pencilled ES monogram and barely visible handwritten "…friend Louis Mayer 1900." Mayer was an artist and friend of ES's in Milwaukee, unrelated to the movie producer.

GMM notes; studio photographs copied from Yale's ES/AS correspondence (see Series I.F.ii)

Clippings, photo of Marin's 82nd birthday

GMM typed notes

GMM notes; clippings; correspondence; exhibition catalogs

Original

Photostats

Original articles in German; translations; notes

Photostats; GMM notes

GMM notes; transcripts; clippings; photocopies; catalogues

GMM notes; transcripts; clippings; photocopies; catalogs

GMM notes; transcripts; clippings; photocopies; catalogs

GMM notes; transcripts; clippings; photocopies; catalogs

Photostats; removed from folders II.A.17-19

Original, notes

Photostats; removed from folder II.A.21

Catalogues and publications; December 1969 issue of Camera devoted to Camera Work and Stieglitz

Clippings; notes; GMM's article in March 1974 issue of AfterImage: "Brilliant Introduction to an Illustrious Parent" reviews Aperture's publication of Camera Work: A Critical Anthology," including background on the entire period.

Original and photocopied programs; notes; clippings; research. Some of the materials are numbered consecutively in GMM's hand. There is no explanation for this numbering in the collection.

Includes one item each of Steichen and Stieglitz

Original rice paper poster by ES for exhibits at Gallery 291: figure on an inclined ground shows Japonaise influences; appeared in Camera Work No 13

Cover by ES (original): Art Nouveau design

Photocopies; research; images from Camera Work

GMM note cards detailing sources and information

GMM notes and correspondence; photographer Paul Strand (TLS PS-GMM [5/22/1973]) recounts a 1956 conversation with Picasso about Steichen's role in modern art.

Introduction of modern art to America

Includes photo of ES and Joanna Steichen; removed from folder II.A.32

Original, American version, with Charles Caffin article: "Progress in Photography. With special reference to the work of Eduard J. Steichen"

Original, English version, with Charles Caffin article: "Progress in Photography. With special reference to the work of Eduard J. Steichen"

Clippings; photocopies; correspondence; catalogs

Catalog of 1986 exhibition

1979 exhibition catalog; GMM correspondence to identify sitters in ES photo

Issue devoted to early 1900s Paris artists

Auction catalogues, 1974-1975, containing ES items; some GMM annotated with page numbers

Clippings; Kate Rodina Steichen letter about donation to MoMA; GMM notes on mentions of Matisse in Camera Work and Vogue

Typed transcripts; envelope in ES hand (photocopy)

Spoof of Gallery 291 and its artists, annotated by GMM (photocopy)

Photo-Secession, Lunn Gallery, 1977; Art for a New Era: The Societe Anonyme, 1920-1950, Yale University Art Gallery

Correspondence; catalogue of 1984 retrospective

Photo reproductions of fashion photographs for Paul Poiret

Clipping; print of photograph showing ES and other American artists in Paris

Photocopied transcript of 1973 Archives of American Art oral history with daughter Donna Layton

AS's lover and biographer Dorothy Norman's letter documents the two photographers' disagreements (photocopied TLS DN-ES [8/13/1946]); photographer Todd Webb recalls being at An American Place gallery when ES and AS reunited in 1946 (TLS TW-GMM [2/26/1972], original and annotated photocopy)

Subseries II.B. World War I period

The subseries includes prints of aerial photographs taken by photographers under ES's command in the U.S. Army Signal Corps's Photographic Section, original documents pertaining to his induction into and release from the U.S. Army, and photographs of him from this period.

Original

Multiple prints (and copy negative) by unidentified photographer

Cables; induction and discharge papers; clippings, correspondence

Original certificate; removed from folder II.B.3

Various locations, some identified on the back; unknown photographer

Includes ES aerial photographs

ES in uniform; some copy prints by Rolf Petersen

GMM notes and correspondence on ES's war service

Clippings; includes 1975 article from Artforum, and criticism of it in The New York Times, on the function of war photography after the fact, when such images are considered outside of their immediate context.

Subseries II.C. Early design work

Scope and Content

Folders II.C.2-5 include both documentary evidence about ES's designs for silk manufactured by the Stehli Silk Co. and examples of the fabrics themselves: individual and grouped swatches, rolled fabric, and three garments. The two blouses (II.C.8*) were printed using a cyanotype photographic process infrequently used for fabrics because of its delicacy and instability; they might be considered as photographs on fabric. See Note on Condition below for details of their conservation treatment in 2000, and recommendations for their handling.

Note on Condition

In November 2000, MoMA's Conservation Department undertook treatment of all the silk swatches and garments in this subseries. Twenty individual swatches were placed in Mylar envelopes (ironed, if necessary, before) on white un-buffered acid-free photographic folder paper. The six swatch sets were transferred into booklets of Mylar, graded in length to facilitate observation without the need to touch the fabric. Staples were removed and the booklets and swatches sewn with cotton thread. Each of the swatch booklets was placed in a larger Mylar folder on a sheet of the acid-free folder paper.

The larger swatch and three garments (one dress, two blouses) were rolled, supported on appropriate mounts, and stored in corrugated boxes. The blouses are printed as cyanotypes, a photographic process using Prussian Blue (ferric ferrocyanide). Fabrics thus printed are particularly susceptible to fading from exposure to visible and UV light, bleaching from exposure to an alkaline substance, and dispersing or washing away. They should be handled only by a trained conservator or archivist.

1960 note from George Horwitt; GMM's 1985 correspondence with German photography scholar Fritz Gruber indicates that the Horwitt watch, a precursor of the popular Movado Museum watch, was not designed by ES.

Notes, correspondence; undated slides of restored fabrics; photo of "Thread" design; (see also folder III.C.3 for published images of the fabric)

Photographic prints and photostats; removed from folder II.C.2

1 swatch; 2 sample books

2 swatches, 4 sample books

16 swatches

Beans, Rice, Buttons and Thread, Thread designs; these had been mounted and given SC2007.13-16 numbers for outgoing loan that year

One dress, three blouses: the latter are printed cyanotypes on fabric; to be handled only by trained conservator or archivist.

Clippings, correspondence; 1989 auction catalog. The "Vers Libre" baby grand piano, which ES designed for Hardman & Peck as part of their "Modernique" line, he also photographed in assignments for Vogue (see Series III).

Color transparency, given SC2007.23 number for outgoing loan that year

Series III. Professional Photographic Career

Arrangement

The series is arranged in five subseries:

Subseries III.A. Professional photography, exhibitions, studios
Subseries III.B. Vanity Fair tear-sheets
Subseries III.C. Vogue tear-sheets
Subseries III.D. Advertising work
Subseries III.E. Engravers proofs, advertising and Condé Nast publications

Scope and Content

Series III documents ES's extensive photographic career in the 1920s and 1930s: his image of Isadora Duncan taken in Greece; experiments photographing teacups; work in color; inclusion in exhibitions including Film und Foto (Stuttgart, 1929), and Photography 1839-1937 (MoMA Exh. #60, March 17-April 18, 1937); for magazines published by Condé Nast (Vogue, Vanity Fair, and others) and for the N.W. Ayer and J. Walter Thompson advertising agencies; and some of his other photographic output during this period. It includes information on his studio locations at 80 W. 40th and 139 E. 69th streets, GMM's background research on advertising during these years, as well as original tear-sheets and engravers' proofs from the publications in which ES's advertising photographs appeared.

There are some items in German and French.

Information about other of ES's photographic projects, including his extensive documentation of delphinium-breeding experiments, during this period is included in Series VII.B and D.

Subseries III.A. Professional photography, exhibitions, studios

Arrangement

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

Scope and Content

The subseries provides general background information on ES's career predominantly during the 1920s and 1930s. Information on his studio locations includes photographs taken in, and from the windows of, 80 W. 40th Street; items provided to ESA by ES's electrician Jim McKeon; and letters to GMM from ES's printer Noel Deeks (see folder II.A.17) detailing the studio's locations, staff, and procedures.

There is little written material originating from ES: a small binder with details of prints sent to exhibitions in 1937 (folder II.A.19); and a 1938 response to Jacob Deschin's question about his teacup experiments, in which he notes that they were similar to a musician's finger exercises. Deschin (1900-1983) was at that time writing for Popular Photography magazine; from 1941 until his retirement in 1970, he was the camera editor of The New York Times.

GMM correspondence with Gladys Pohl at Condé Nast

Specifically related to Vogue and Vanity Fair

GMM notes from Duncan's autobiography My Life re: 1920 trip to Greece; clipping from February 1971 DanceMagazine article with ES photo

Clippings, GMM notes one in Swedish; see also Series IX.A for writings by and about ES

Photocopied TLS ES-Jacob Deschin (1/24/1938) responding to a question about the teacup photographs: characterizing them as "finger exercises"

One in French

Includes GMM list "references to ES in The Art Index," 1929-1970

On ES in the period

Clippings, background info

Clippings and GMM notes

GMM notes; photocopied exhibition catalogue. Curated by Heinz Schwartz, Film Und Foto was one of the first important exhibitions of photography in Europe. The American photographers represented in it were ES and Edward Weston.

Both contemporary and later (1970s-1980s) exhibitions of ES's work from this period

Predominantly information on 139 E. 69th Street, with some on 80 W. 40th Street: GMM notes, photo, Noel Deeks 1970s correspondence with photocopies of his diary excerpts from 1937.

Clippings; photocopy from Vanity Fair, April 1935, by ES on his color printing technique

Photographs, some by Dana Steichen; notes from Noel Deeks about studio procedures; photographs of the staff

Removed from folder III.A.17

Binder with list of prints; includes ES works in Photography 1839-1937 [MoMA Exh. #60, March 17-April 18, 1937]

Includes photocopy of draft checklist and captions for exhibition; BN note to GMM with photocopy of catalogue

Includes TLS Patricia Johnston-GMM (1/2/1984) re: her dissertation research on ES commercial work; itinerary of ES 1937 trip to Mexico

GMM note: "to be located and dated;" photocopies

Subseries III.B. Vanity Fair tear-sheets

Arrangement

The tear-sheets were originally housed in individual folders for each year, with the hard board cover of the January issue enclosing the pages on which ES's photographs appeared from that year. Each folder's year was written on the outside in a hand not GMM's. Author Patricia Johnston in Real Fantasies: Edward Steichen's Advertising Photography, describes them as "tear-sheet files… that were compiled from contemporary magazines each month by the photographer's wife, Dana Steichen" (p. 257). Some individual pages are annotated in pencil in GMM's hand or, beginning in 1932, bear inked numbers in another hand; there is no explanation in the collection for this numbering system.

The dates provided for folders are the dates of their contents' creation.

Scope and Content

According to her undated photocopied memo, GMM had planned to compare the tear-sheets with a card catalogue list of images by ES (organized alphabetically by subject) that is included in the Grace M. Mayer Papers, Series IV.A.2.

Includes photo of one page and copy negative

No cover boards

Entire issue, includes self-portrait of ES (p. 67)

Clare Booth Luce; includes Bobbi Carrey query to GMM (2/5/1979) re: identity of sitters

Entire issue

Includes a photostat

Entire issue; has book mark at Rabbi Weiss page; see Series I.F.i for Weiss's letter to ES re: the portrait

Includes photostats

Subseries III.C. Vogue tear-sheets

Arrangement

The dates provided for folders are the dates of their contents' creation.

Includes a photostat

The explanatory sign was possibly from a display of tear-sheets; no further information is provided.

Includes ES's fashion photographs and silk designs

Includes a photostat

Includes photostats

Includes photostats

Includes photostats

Vogue's first color photographic cover; includes some photostats; July 1934 issue of Advertising Arts includes ES nudes

Includes GMM note and her correspondence with Noel Deeks to confirm date and location of an image

Mounted tear-sheet, photostat; removed from folder III.C.17

Includes photocopied professional recommendation, TLS Condé Nast-ES (9/27/1937)

Includes portfolio of ES work from 1923-1938, and an article by Margaret Case Harriman

GMM note on folder: "Also House & Garden Dec. 1939"

Mounted tear-sheets, removed from folder II.C.23

Entire issue

Portrait of ES by Irving Penn

Photostat of layout for article "50 Photographs by 50 Photographers" re: 50 Photographs by 50 Photographers [MoMA Exh. #382, July 27-September 26, 1948]

Alexander Liberman article "Steichen's Eye" accompanying ES's choice of his five "best" photographs

Subseries III.D. Advertising work

Arrangement

The dates provided in the folder titles are both the dates referred to in their contents and the dates of the contents' creation.

Scope and Content

The subseries includes images ES took for the advertising agencies N.W. Ayer and J. Walter Thompson as they appeared on tear-sheets from publications including McCall's, Vogue, Saturday Evening Post, The New York Times, Ladies Home Journal, and Good Housekeeping. Most are for household goods (e.g., Canon towels, Scot Tissue) and beauty products (e.g., Jergen's Lotion) targeted to women; images from an advertising campaign for the Matson shipping line are also included.

In Patricia Johnston's book Real Fantasies: Edward Steichen's Advertising Photography, the "Appendix: Documented Advertising Photographs by Steichen" is an extensive (but not exhaustive) chronology of images that includes the client, publication, and date. Many came from the ESA or George Eastman House collections.

Includes copy of contract with J. Walter Thompson (12/6/1924); Thompson's recommendation of ES to Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air for work in its Photographic Unit, based on his integrity and advertising experience (1/16/1942; see Series IV.B); GMM research; article by Patricia Johnston, based on her dissertation, which became the basis for Real Fantasies: Edward Steichen's Advertising Photography

Background and clippings

Includes GMM note on Hawaiian model used in advertisement

Subseries III.E. Engravers' proofs, advertising and Condé Nast publications

Arrangement

In this subseries, only the advertising proofs were individually organized by client and those original titles (possibly in Dana Steichen's hand) are provided in quotation marks; the others were in no apparent order and are now foldered as appropriate for their size and weight: all are printed on heavily coated paper. Where larger sheets were together with smaller versions of the same image, they have been left together and housed as appropriate for the largest size. The proof sheets appear to have been stored at one time exposed to the elements: a few show water damage or discoloration, and many were originally sooty.

The dates provided for folders are the dates of their contents' creation.

Historical Note

The engravers' proofs would have been provided to ES to correct before the magazine went to press; see letter in folder III.E.1 from the engraver to ES as an example of this communication. Some are printed on form sheets that, on the front, include a color range against which ES would check the images' quality of printing; on the back are instructions for how to note any desired changes.

Includes tear-sheets

Includes mounted tear-sheets

Includes extensive ES penciled corrections

Includes tear-sheets

Includes ES changes in pencil and pen on two sheets

Includes ES changes in ink on one sheet

Series IV. War Years and Navy Service

Arrangement

Series IV is arranged chronologically into six subseries:

Subseries IV.A. Non-naval photographic work
Subseries IV.B. Navy service
Subseries IV.C. Exhibition Road to Victory
Subseries IV.D. Film The Fighting Lady
Subseries IV.E. Exhibition and publication Power in the Pacific
Subseries IV.F. Publication The Blue Ghost

Scope and Content

The series includes material about ES's work between his retirement from Condé Nast in 1938 and his appointment as Director of MoMA's Department of Photography in 1947. Most relates to his service in the U.S. Navy, creating the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, and culminating in his 1945 appointment as Director of the U.S. Navy Photographic Institute, in charge of all Navy combat photography. It includes documentation of his first collaboration with his brother-in-law Carl Sandburg in organizing the photography exhibition Road to Victory (MoMA Exh. #182, May 21-October 4, 1942); time spent aboard U.S.S. Lexington in the Pacific (1943); supervision of the U.S. Navy film The Fighting Lady (1944); the 1945 book and exhibition, Power in the Pacific (MoMA Exh. #275, January 23-March 20, 1945); and the publication in 1947 by Harcourt Brace of The Blue Ghost, a portrait of U.S.S. Lexington and its crew during wartime.

Information about ES's delphinium-breeding work during this period, including many of his photographs of plants taken at the Umpawaug Breeding Farm, is included in Series VII.D.

Subseries IV.A. Non-naval photographic work

Arrangement

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

Photocopied TLS Noel Deeks-GMM (4/27/1976) about printing Sandburg photomontage in 1939

Especially from Popular Photography and U.S. Camera, documenting portraits of Paul Robeson, Eleanor Roosevelt, ES judging the annual Graflex camera contest, and other professional activities

Information on AS memorial; excerpts (2/20-7/13) from diary of photographer Todd Webb re: ES/AS reconciliation

Subseries IV.B. Navy Service

Scope and Content

The subseries includes photographs of and by ES (many in folder IV.B.10 are duplicates, uncaptioned, and/or unattributed); information on the members of his photographic unit; contemporary clippings and publications in which their photographs appeared; and later research by GMM on the period, including correspondence with Victor Jorgensen, who took the often-reproduced photo of ES, camera in hand, aboard U.S.S. Lexington (see folder IV.B.10 and elsewhere); and correspondence with Wayne Miller.

Historical Note

Among the young members of ES's photographic unit (his so-called "chickens"; see folder IV.B.18) was Wayne Miller (b. 1918) who, starting in 1953, would assist ES in the editing, compilation, and design of The Family of Man (see Series V.B).

Second edition (1980) of book originally published in 1945, with text by Tom Maloney, editor of U.S. Camera; with 12/26/1944 letter from Jean Gilmer Cooper to ES re: publication of original edition (see folder IV.B.30 for earlier edition)

GMM and older correspondence with researchers and others re: ES naval photographs, war service, ESA holdings; copies of correspondence to ES re: war photographs, and personal correspondence from Admiral Felix Stump (see also Series I.F.i).

CS and ES planning Road to Victory; Japanese surrender aboard U.S.S. Missouri, signed to ES by Admiral Chester Nimitz

Brochure, invitation, correspondence, background on exhibition, subtitled "A portrait of WWII," organized by the Navy Museum (Washington, DC) and presented at the Boston National Historic Park in October 1989

Poster from exhibition, subtitled "A portrait of WWII," organized by the Navy Museum (Washington, DC) and presented at the Boston National Historic Park in October 1989; with cover letter

Clippings

Clippings, correspondence, GMM notes

Correspondence, orders, appointments, itineraries, processing for ES's release from naval service

Prints documented by GMM as being by ES

From Naval Aviation Photographic Unit; includes oft-reproduced image (1943) by Victor Jorgensen of ES on U.S.S. Lexington; also many duplicates, uncaptioned, and/or unattributed photographs

Published in 1963 in Art News Annual with photographs chosen by ES

Issues from 1945, 1947, and 1969, each containing photographs from the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit

Articles featuring Naval Aviation Photographic Unit and ES photographs

Photocopied "Command History" of the Center; per cover letter to GMM (12/13/1977) "the Center is not a descendant of the U.S. Navy Photographic Institute"

"Commander with a Camera", parts I and II, by Matthew Josephson

Information on ES photographs in collection, with GMM notes from ES

Clipping, GMM note

Clippings, correspondence; includes letters from WM (2/7/1980 and 1/23/1974) detailing members of ES's Naval Aviation Photographic Unit

GMM and older correspondence re: ES items in Naval Archives, personnel in Unit, and postwar disposition of collection

ES's election to Photographic Society of America; color cartoon: "Combat photographer in two wars"

Photocopy of Morris Engel's citation; original blank citation forms

Carbon copies; original citations would have been signed by Admiral Forrestal and ES

Compilation of official Navy photographs, edited by Oliver Jensen

ES's undated draft "annual qualifications questionnaire"; 1947 report of Civilian Advisory Committee (on which ES served) on post-war Navy

Correspondence, clippings re: award to ES of Distinguished Service Medal and other Navy commendations; personal correspondence to ES from Admiral Felix Stump (see also Series I.F.i)

GMM correspondence. To celebrate ES's 90th birthday in 1969, Tom Maloney (USNA, '27), publisher of U.S. Camera and frequent collaborator with ES, donated to the Nimitz Library at the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD) the Edward J. Steichen Photography Collection, including approximately 3,000 photographs by Steichen and others, and a library of 582 published volumes.

Navy photographs of ES; clippings; unattributed written reports of action

GMM research

Unpublished humorous photographs of ES by WM, perhaps created for Navy Secretary Forrestal's "postwar party"

Compiled by ES, published by U.S. Camera; with TLS Rear Admiral Felix Johnson, Director of Public Relations, U.S. Navy-ES (4/23/1947)

Manuscript carbon by Felix B. Grosso, 31 pp

Clippings and notes re: ES service in Korea and exhibition at MoMA: Korea - the Impact of War in Photographs [MoMA Exh. #470, February 13-April 22, 1951]

Correspondence re: effort to have ES named Rear Admiral in Naval reserves. Per GMM note, the promotion never occurred.

Clippings re: photography exhibitions mentioning Steichen and Navy photographs

Subseries IV.C. Exhibition Road to Victory

Arrangement

The dates provided for folders are the dates of their contents' creation.

Historical Note

The exhibition Road to Victory [MoMA Exh. #182, May 21-October 4, 1942] was ES's first collaboration with his brother-in-law Carl Sandburg in the design of an exhibition at MoMA, described in the Museum's press release (folder IV.C.1) as a "powerful propaganda effort." They would reprise this relationship, and many of the design approaches used in this exhibition, in their later collaboration on The Family of Man (see Series V.B).

Subseries IV.D. Film The Fighting Lady

Arrangement

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

Historical Note

The Fighting Lady was created by the U.S. Navy, under ES's supervision, using his unit's photographs with narration by actor Robert Taylor. A portrait of an anonymous aircraft carrier (U.S.S. Yorktown), it won the 1945 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In October 1975, U.S.S. Yorktown was dedicated as a museum at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, Charleston, SC.

Showing of film in Sweden, 1988

Background information, press releases, GMM research

Clippings

Clippings

U.S. Navy Public Relations Office publication showing sample advertisements, posters

Theatrical poster; oversize, see flat file

Correspondence about preservation, deposit of film with National Archives; unattributed list of Naval Aviation Photographic Unit members

Supplement to The News & Courier/Charleston Evening Post announcing arrival of U.S.S. Yorktown

Subseries IV.E. Exhibition and publication Power in the Pacific

Arrangement

The dates provided for folders are the dates of their contents' creation.

Subtitled "A Navy picture record compiled by Capt. Edward Steichen USNR"; marked with individual print numbers

Includes TLS Historian of Naval Operations Samuel E. Morrison-ES (1/20/1947) asking for copies

Subseries IV.F. Publication The Blue Ghost

Arrangement

The dates provided in the folder titles are both the dates referred to in their contents and the dates of the contents' creation.

Not consistently paginated, but in same order as in its original box. Includes photocopies of notations on the box, TLS editor Donald Brace-ES (6/13/1944) on book's length, costs, etc.

Not consistently paginated, but in same order as in its original box.

Not consistently paginated, but in same order as in its original box.

Taken aboard U.S.S. Lexington and U.S.S. Proteus, on shore, at 1945 exhibition opening at Corcoran Gallery (many duplicates, uncaptioned, and/or unattributed photographs); and at presentation to ES of Distinguished Service Medal in 1945 (given for "exceptionally meritorious service to the government of the United States in either a senior government service position or as a senior officer of the United States armed forces or other uniformed services"); see also Series X.

B/w prints 8x10, 4x5

B/w prints 4x5 and smaller

Includes TLS Victor Jorgensen-GMM (2/15/1980)

Series V. MoMA Years

Arrangement

The series is arranged in chronological order in three subseries:

Subseries V.A. Directorship of Department of Photography, MoMA
Subseries V.B. The Family of Man [MoMA Exh. #569, January 24-May 8, 1955]: Planning, installation, showing, and press coverage
Subseries V.B.i. The Family of Man [MoMA Exh. #569, January 24-May 8, 1955] at MoMA
Subseries V.B.ii. The Family of Man [MoMA Exh. #569, January 24-May 8, 1955] at other venues
Subseries V.C. Steichen the Photographer [MoMA Exh. #682, March 28-May 30, 1961]
Subseries V.C.i Steichen the Photographer [MoMA Exh. #682, March 28-May 30, 1961] at MoMA and in the U.S.
Subseries V.C.ii Steichen the Photographer [MoMA Exh. #682, March 28-May 30, 1961] at overseas venues

The dates provided in the folder titles are both the dates referred to in their contents and the dates of the contents' creation.

Scope and Content

The series includes information, mostly in the form of newspaper and magazine clippings, from the years in which ES served as Director of MoMA's Department of Photography, including his appointment to and resignation from MoMA; exhibitions he organized there (see the Additional Descriptive Data section, at the beginning of this finding aid, for a Chronology of Exhibitions); and exhibitions in which he was represented at MoMA and elsewhere, especially Steichen the Photographer [MoMA Exh. #682, March 28-May 30, 1961]. There is extensive documentation, including many installation photographs, of The Family of Man [MoMA Exh. #569, January 24-May 8, 1955] at MoMA and other venues worldwide.

Historical Note

GMM joined the Department of Photography in 1958 as Assistant to ES. She collected much of the material in this series contemporaneously with the events they documented. Some clippings are annotated by ES, and some include notes indicating that they had originally been sent to Kate Rodina Steichen, who then donated them to the ESA.

Subseries V.A. Directorship of Department of Photography, MoMA

Arrangement

The subseries is organized in general chronological order. Clippings about exhibitions that ES organized are grouped together, separately from those referring more generally to his career and work in this period. Groups of clippings about a specific exhibition are foldered together. The subseries ends with a run of MoMA press releases (originals, photocopies, and photostats), in chronological order, which are often annotated and/or include the dates added in GMM's hand or in red ink from her typewriter. Folder V.A.33 included a photocopied annotated chronology from the book Steichen the Photographer, which has been moved to Subseries V.C.i.

Scope and Content

The subseries consists mostly of newspaper and magazine clippings documenting ES's tenure as Director of the Department of Photography at MoMA, with emphasis on the exhibitions he organized during that time. Those that opened after his retirement are included here because they were organized and arranged while he held the Directorship. Documentation of exhibitions of ES's own work during and after his years at MoMA are also included here, according to GMM's original order.

Among the writers on photography documented in the subseries are Margaret R. ("Peggy") Weiss, Saturday Review's photography editor from 1960-1969, and a close friend of GMM's; and The New York Times' photography editor, Jacob Deschin.

Catalogues, newspaper clippings, GMM notes

Photocopy of table of contents and catalogue of the exhibition from book's first edition, with TLS BN-GMM (12/4/1968)

Entries on ES in Current Biography; posthumous tribute in Saturday Review by Peggy Weiss

MoMA press release, clippings; includes Wilton Bulletin 8/6/1947 with annotation [probably Kate Rodina Steichen's]; Camera, June 1976, with BN interview detailing his reaction to ES's appointment to MoMA

Newspaper clippings, introduction to catalogue

Clippings; includes unattributed snapshots of visitors to The Exact Instant [MoMA Exh. #399, February 8-May 1, 1949] sent to the Dept. of Photography 7/15/1996

Clippings removed from folder V.A.6

New York Times coverage of The Exact Instant removed from folder V.A.6

Newspaper clippings

Installation at Photokina, Cologne; 5x7 and 8x10 prints by Charles E. Fraser, UK

Excerpts from Jacob Deschin's Say It With Your Camera

Magazine clippings

Newspaper clippings. Correspondence with photographer Alan Palmer, from 1950 to 1959, including discussion of and press releases for Photographs by 51 Photographers [MoMA Exh. #454, August 1-September 17, 1950], Abstraction in Photography [MoMA Exh. #476, May 1-July 4, 1951], and several illustrated talks given by Edward Steichen.

Material added to this folder in 2022.

Newspaper clippings

Includes one in Czech, with TLS Kate Rodina Steichen-GMM

Clippings

Clippings, GMM notes; includes 1959 ES snapshot of Khruschev in Moscow, program for ES 75th birthday dinner, 1954

Clippings

Clippings

Saturday Review articles by Peggy Weiss; undated [post-1958] article by ES

"Edward Steichen: Dissatisfied Genius" appeared in the December 14, 1957, Saturday Review and was picked up by Readers' Digest worldwide; issues in English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Italian

"Edward Steichen: Dissatisfied Genius" appeared in the December 14, 1957, Saturday Review and was picked up by Readers' Digest worldwide; issues in German, Japanese, Arabic, Finnish

"Edward Steichen: Dissatisfied Genius" appeared in the December 14, 1957, Saturday Review and was picked up by Readers' Digest worldwide; issues in English, from U.S., Canada, United Kingdom

GMM chronology of ES exhibitions, research, notes

Newspaper clippings, correspondence: original installation at MoMA, 1995 installation in Luxembourg

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "A Backward Look at the Bitter Years"

Catalogue from exhibition at Casino Luxembourg, 1995

Exhibition at Northwood Institute, Midland, MI: clippings, correspondence, catalogue

Includes 1955 chronology of MoMA shows organized by ES, some featuring his work; announcement of his appointment

Release for In and Out of Focus is heavily annotated in ES's hand; releases for 50 Photographs by 50 Photographers, Photo-Secession, The Exact Instant, Roots of Photography include lists of photographers and works; release for Realism in Photography includes draft with ES edits; May 10, 1950, announcement includes citation from American Institute of Architects award to ES.

Includes 9/11/1952 announcement of ES traveling to find photographs for The Family of Man; 3/25/1954 (ES's 75th birthday) announcement of establishment of ES Photography Fund "for purchase of photographs for the Museum Collection"

Includes comments at 82nd birthday (3/27/1961) by Henry Allen Moe, Vice Chairman, MoMA Board of Trustees, Mrs. Eugene Meyer; 3/4/1962 appointment of JS to head Department of Photography; release for Toward the New Museum of Modern Art includes checklist.

Note: This folder originally included a photocopied annotated chronology from the book Steichen the Photographer, which has been moved to Subseries V.C.i.

Clippings cover Edward Steichen and the following exhibitions: Three Young Photographers (Leonard McCombe, Wayne Miller, Homer Page) [MoMA Exh. #359, September 30-December 7, 1947]; Music and Musicians [MoMA Exh. #364, December 16, 1947-February 23, 1948]; In and Out of Focus [MoMA Exh. #373, April 6-July 11, 1948]; 50 Photographs by 50 Photographers [MoMA Exh. #382, July 27-September 26, 1948]; Photo-Secession (American Photography 1902-1910) [MoMA Exh. #386, September 29-November 28, 1948]; Photographs by Bill Brandt, Harry Callahan, Ted Croner, Lisette Model [MoMA Exh. #394, November 30, 1948-February 10, 1949]; The Exact Instant [MoMA Exh. #399, February 8-May 1, 1949]; Roots of Photography (Hill-Adamson, Cameron) [MoMA Exh. #406, April 26-July 24, 1949]; Realism in Photography: Ralph Steiner, Wayne Miller, Tosh Matsumoto, and Frederick Sommer [MoMA Exh. #416, July 26, 1949-September 25, 1949]; Photography (Six Women Photographers) (Margaret Bourke-White, Helen Levitt, Dorothea Lange, Tana Hoban, and Hazel and Frieda Larsen) [MoMA Exh. #425, October 11-November 15, 1949]; Roots of French Photography [MoMA Exh. #431, November 29, 1949-January 15, 1950]; Photographs of Picasso by Gjon Mili and Robert Capa [MoMA Exh. #435, January 24-March 19, 1950].

This folder was added in 2022.

Subseries V.B. The Family of Man exhibition: Planning, installation, showing, and press coverage

Arrangement

The subseries is organized into two parts:

Subseries V.B.i. The Family of Man at MoMA
Subseries V.B.ii. The Family of Man at other venues

Each subseries ends with folders of relevant clippings. Most of the clippings were originally loose in the storage boxes. For those that were housed, the original identification is included in quotation marks as the folder title. Some clippings are annotated in ES's hand; some appear to have been sent to Kate Rodina Steichen and then donated by her to the ESA. GMM's typed notes were originally found among some groups of clippings; these have been removed to separate folders. For wire service stories that appeared in multiple newspapers, one original version of each article has been retained, and a listing of other publications in which the article appeared is included.

Historical Note

In preparation for the exhibition, ES sought photographs from all over the world. In the United States (see Subseries V.B.i), Dorothea Lange contacted photographers and photography groups in the San Francisco area, with whom ES then met at locations including the home of Wayne and Joan Miller, in Orinda, CA. Photographer Shirley Burden likewise organized the contribution of photographs by professionals and amateurs in the Los Angeles area. In Europe (see Subseries V.B.ii), ES's travels and meetings with photographers and organizers were widely publicized and documented.

Subseries V.B.i The Family of Man at MoMA

Arrangement

The subseries is arranged chronologically, with materials specific to various venues followed by more general newspaper clippings (which begin at folder V.B.i.49). Some groups of folders are in their own chronological order within the subseries' overall order. Documentation of the exhibition's planning, and statistics related to attendance at its various venues, was originally unorganized and the folder titles and dates are approximate. Researchers interested in this topic are advised to consult all the "Preparation, NYC" folders for full documentation of this period.

The various sets of installation photographs taken by Ezra Stoller and Rolf Petersen (folders V.B.i.28-45) were rehoused in the 1990s for ease of handling in the Department of Photography's Study Center. The labels given at that time to groups of images are provided in quotation marks; photographs have been separated into smaller groups here for ease of handling.

Scope and Content

The subseries consists mostly of newspaper and magazine clippings documenting the organization and installation of The Family of Man at MoMA, some GMM notes and later research on the exhibition's planning and attendance, and multiple copies of installation photographs.

GMM list of staff and Steichen family members' contact information; Homer Page photographs of ES, WM, exhibition designer Paul Rudolph, assistant Kathleen Haven in loft; description of exhibition about Paul Rudolph (location undocumented); TLS (photocopy) WM-GMM (2/7/1980) in answer to question about Kathleen Haven and other assistants.

This list was originally in Series I: it may have been given to GMM by ES in 1972 with the correspondence now housed in Series I.F.i.

GMM research on 52nd Street loft rented for organization of show; Homer Page photographs of ES, WM

5x7 photographs by WM: ES with Kathleen Haven and others

5x7 photographs by Homer Page: ES with WM, Paul Rudolph, and others

5x7 photographs by WM: ES with CS

8x10 and 5x7 photographs by WM: ES with MoMA staff: RDH, MW, Porter McCray, William S. Burden, Elizabeth Shaw, others; CS, Nell Dorr, Mrs. DeWitt (Lila Acheson) Wallace, Fritz Gruber; Miller children at loft [and San Francisco opening?]; opening reception at MoMA

5x7 photographs by Homer Page: ES with WM, Paul Rudolph, Kathleen Haven, Elizabeth Shaw

5x7 photographs by Homer Page and WM: ES and Dorothea Lange

5x7 photographs by Homer Page: ES alone and with WM, Paul Rudolph, Kathleen Haven, Elizabeth Shaw

5x7 photographs by Homer Page: ES with Paul Rudolph

5x7 photographs by WM: ES with Joan Miller, Miller children

5x7 photographs by WM: ES with Dorothy Norman, Kathleen Haven, Dana Steichen, Mrs. DeWitt (Lila Acheson) Wallace

5x7 photographs by WM: ES alone and with RDH, William A. Burden, others (possibly MoMA trustees)

5x7 photographs by Homer Page: ES with WM, Paul Rudolph

List of photographers, photocopy TLS WM-ES (4/6/1953) accepting position as assistant; GMM notes; photocopy TLS Joanna Steichen-Jerry Mason (10/5/1977) excoriating his publication of book The Family of Children

9.5 x 6.5 photographs by Homer Page taken for publication in U.S. Camera: ES with Dorothea Lange, WM, Paul Rudolph, Kathleen Haven

Contact prints by Bob Willoughby: Dorothea Lange and others in LA; print by Sam Cohen: group in Oakland

Mounted print by Phil Stern, annotated on back in ES's hand: Dorothea Lange and others looking at work in LA submitted for The Family of Man

5x7 photographs by Homer Page, WM, Don Honeyman, Fred Lyon; Originally boxed together, some captioned on back in ES hand, showing Orinda group, Paris opening, MoMA preview opening, ES in loft; lynching photo from exhibition; unidentified podium shot with ES

"Rebels Gallery/ 2 negatives from Venezuela installation/ photos from Minneapolis show/ 1 cardboard mounted print: Stoller 18-Q-3"

Program, ES 75th birthday party 1954; information on The Family of Man book, exhibition attendance, photocopied USIS attendance information, clippings, MoMA fact sheet on exhibition; installation photostat

See also folders V.B.i.62 and V.B.i.63

"Retouched negative state of Sandburg text"

Invitation, contact prints of opening reception by Robert Frank

Attribution according to accompanying WM note 4/1995

"Incomplete set (2 copies print #4, #16, 20-26 missing)": 8x10 prints by Rolf Petersen (1 of 3)

"Incomplete set (2 copies print #4, #16, 20-26 missing)": 8x10 prints by Rolf Petersen (2 of 3)

"Incomplete set (2 copies print #4, #16, 20-26 missing)": 8x10 prints by Rolf Petersen (3 of 3)

"Random copies of Stoller shots made by Petersen": 8x10 prints by Rolf Petersen

"Rolf Petersen, incomplete set, missing #55": 8x10 prints (1 of 3)

"Rolf Petersen, incomplete set, missing #55": 8x10 prints (2 of 3)

"Rolf Petersen, incomplete set, missing #55": 8x10 prints (3 of 3)

"Rolf Petersen (?) extra copies": 8x10 prints

"Rolf Petersen complete set (1-66)": 8x10 prints (1 of 2)

"Rolf Petersen complete set (1-66)": 8x10 prints (2 of 2)

"Rolf Petersen complete set (1-66)": 8x10 prints (1 of 2)

"Rolf Petersen complete set (1-66)": 8x10 prints (2 of 2)

"Rolf Petersen complete set (1-66)": 8x10 prints (1 of 2)

"Rolf Petersen complete set (1-66)": 8x10 prints (2 of 2)

Mounted prints by Ezra Stoller, some signed

Mounted prints [also by Ezra Stoller?]

"Complete set (1-24) of enlarged mounted installation photographs"; two sets of 8x10 prints by Ezra Stoller

"Incomplete set (24 is complete) - missing #6; duplicates of others": 8x10 prints by Ezra Stoller

GMM notes, correspondence, USIS figures for attendance

5x7 photographs by WM: ES, CS

Transcript of WM oral history (undated, hand annotated by GMM); 1967 WM profile in Popular Photography; 1984 PS1 show taking off from The Family of Man

ES's European travels to collect photographs; USIS report on Vienna meetings; exhibition coverage (in English and German)

Scrapbook of press clippings about planning for exhibition.

Relocated from Series I: this may have been given to GMM by ES in 1972 with the correspondence now housed in Series I.F.i.

Exhibitions in Minneapolis; Washington, DC; Baltimore; Dearborn, MI; Utica, NY; Dallas, TX

Removed from folder V.B.i.55

Materials collected by ES

In German, English, Polish, Japanese, Hindi, Swedish; includes USIS summary of Indian press coverage, summary of "reaction of the French Press to the 'Family of Man' Exhibition"

In Swedish, French, Japanese, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian

In Italian, French, Swedish, Spanish, German

Reprints and clippings; includes works by Christopher Phillips, John Morris, Allan Sekula, Roland Jacques Barzun; in English and French

Some at time of book's publication; other mentioning The Family of Man in other contexts

Subseries V.B.ii The Family of Man at other venues

Arrangement

The subseries is arranged chronologically, with materials specific to various venues followed by more general newspaper clippings (which begin at folder V.B.ii.29).

Scope and Content

The subseries includes mostly newspaper clippings that document ES's 1952 travels to Europe to find photographs for inclusion in the exhibition; its various venues around the world and reactions in the international press, including two scrapbooks from the exhibition's French showings and extensive coverage of ES and CS's 1959 attendance at the exhibition's opening in Moscow, attended by Nikita Khruschev; as well as installation photographs at some of the international venues.

The film by Jerome Liebling has been transferred to the Museum's Film Study Center which has the proper facilities for storing and screening it. Researchers should contact the Center for further information. Access may be denied due to the film's physical condition.

Photo of ES with exhibition model; visit with photographers

Includes ALS Robert Frank-GMM (8/1980): "I did accompany Steichen in 1952 to Switzerland (Zurich) and to Paris"

Photographs of ES with photographers in Dusseldorf, Cologne, Brussels, Vienna, Stockholm; international participants at November 3-5 USIS meeting, Hotel Talleyrand, Paris

photographs of ES, including with Julia and Paul Child

photographs of ES with group of photographers

Invitation, announcements, bumper sticker, clippings

Exhibition poster; installation photo, clipping

Print of film "Family of Man" made at Minneapolis Institute of Art opening; provided to MoMA by filmmaker Jerome Liebling, Amherst, MA, per 1994 accompanying note (see folder V.B.ii.6)

Note: This film has been transferred to the Museum's Film Study Center which has the proper facilities for storing and screening it. Researchers should contact the Center for further information. Access may be denied due to the film's physical condition.

Visitors in front of Hiroshima photo; Hiroshima addition to Japanese exhibition

Entry ticket, floor plan, correspondence; commemorative booklet for ES from 8/17/1955 roundtable talk, sponsored by Japanese photographic organizations

Correspondence about Japanese edition of catalogue; attendance figures

Mounted prints; photographs by ES

Originally boxed together: photographs of ES, installation, visitors at Musée d'Art de la Ville de Paris

Prints and contact sheets, opening; Joan Miller and girls

"Rolf Petersen: Copies of Venezuela Installation": 8x10 prints

Summary of copies and distribution; schedule of U.S. and foreign exhibitions

photographs of visitors

Installation photographs by WM: 5x7 prints

MoMA press release announcing CS and ES visit to Moscow; guide to American pavilion inscribed CS to Joanna Steichen

photographs by ES; TL ES-his Russian guide (10/5/1959); snapshots of ES and CS in Leningrad: color slides and prints, gift of Mary Steichen Calderone

ES at Moscow exhibition: photographs by Elliott Erwitt

Originally boxed together and labeled "Russia B&W and Color Prints": ES's color snapshots of Khruschev and b/w photographs of visitors to exhibition (5x7) show crop marks

Originally boxed together and labeled "F.O.M. Russia B&W 8x10": ES photographs

Photographs of young visitors

Gallery with Towne quotation; two shots of same alcove; mounted print from show (Mrs. Steichen with plate)

5x7 prints of visitors at exhibitions in Cracow, Wroclaw, and Poznan

Exhibition catalog

Photocopied correspondence to GMM about dates of installation; press coverage in English, French, German, Luxembourgish, Japanese

Some in Dutch; some in Swedish with English translation

Materials sent to ES: in various languages

Photocopies of loose clippings and clippings mounted on onionskin paper; in German

Materials sent to ES; in Japanese and Arabic

Materials sent to ES, including correspondence, translations

Mounted installation and exhibition photographs (unattributed), newspaper and magazine clippings, captions; includes summary of excerpts from French press, list of outlets

Mounted installation and exhibition photographs (unattributed), newspaper and magazine clippings, captions

From Times of India, Spectator, New Statesman, and Truth (all London): carbon typescripts

Mounted newspaper clippings (in Polish)

Clipping service items, mounted

Clipping service items, mounted

Clipping service items, mounted

Clipping service items, mounted

Clipping service items, mounted

Loose clippings

In Swedish

English-language, contemporaneous and later

Clippings reporting last showing of exhibition before permanent installation in Luxembourg

Subseries V.C. Steichen the Photographer [MoMA Exh. #682, March 28-May 30, 1961]

Arrangement

The subseries is organized in two parts:

Subseries V.C.i. Steichen the Photographer at MoMA and in the U.S.
Subseries V.C.ii. Steichen the Photographer at overseas venues

Many of the clippings in this series were received from commercial clipping services, and therefore there were many duplicates, especially of articles from the wire services (Associated Press, United Press International) and from syndicated columnists (Irving Desfors, Mel Heimer). One original version of each such article has been retained, and a listing of other publications in which it appeared is included.

Subseries V.C.i. Steichen the Photographer at MoMA and in the U.S.

Scope and Content

The subseries consists mostly of press coverage of the exhibition at MoMA as well as installation photographs, announcements, the exhibition checklist, and GMM notes.

Exhibition checklists, MoMA press release, invitation, calendars, promotional table tent, compilation of "Selections from recent press clippings;" photocopy of GMM chronology created for the book; GMM notes

Installation photographs by Rolf Petersen: 8x10 b/w prints

Magazine clippings; in English and German

In English and German

Including syndicated articles by Mel Heimer, Irving Desfors, Jacob Deschin

4x5 b/w prints

Subseries V.C.ii Steichen the Photographer at overseas venues

Scope and Content

The subseries consists primarily of newspaper clippings, with some correspondence and promotional material (brochures, posters) from the international venues to which the exhibition traveled under the auspices of MoMA's International Circulating Exhibitions Program (ICE-F-72-62). Its tour included stops in Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, England, Portugal, Italy, France, a second group of Italian venues, Yugoslavia, Greece, Israel, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Poland.

Checklists, announcements, itinerary, GMM notes

Announcements, clippings, photographs

Compilation of newspaper clippings, in Swedish

Announcements, invitation, installation photographs (color slides), correspondence (photocopies and carbons)

Exhibition poster; oversize, see flat file

Installation photographs; includes images of photographer Josef Sudek looking at the exhibition

Hard cover exhibition catalogue "Steichen Fotograf"

Catalogues, correspondence, clippings

Correspondence, clippings, installation photographs: 8x10 b/w prints; photographs by Milos Csak with TLS Csak-ES (1/31/1969)

Correspondence, invitations, clippings, installation photographs: 4x9 b/w prints

Exhibition posters; oversize, see flat file

Installation photographs ["#327" on original folder]

Series VI. Post-MoMA Exhibitions, Publications, and Anniversaries

Arrangement

The series is arranged in two subseries:

Subseries VI.A. A Life in Photography
Subseries VI.B. Chronological files

The dates provided in the folder titles are both the dates referred to in their contents and the dates of the contents' creation.

Scope and Content

Series VI documents the years after ES's retirement as Director of the Department of Photography at MoMA, including his publications, exhibitions of his work, sales and auctions of his prints, establishment of the Edward Steichen Archive, as well as the various events marking his later birthdays, especially preparation for the 1963 publication of A Life in Photography, and his 90th birthday dinner at the Plaza Hotel in 1969. It does not include his actual photographic work during this period, such as his documentation of the shadblow tree on the Umpawaug property (see Series VII.E). Extensive information on ES's death; obituaries; the memorial at MoMA on April 3, 1973; his burial at Umpawaug; and the 100th birthday events in 1979, including Joanna Steichen's donation of 1,500 prints to George Eastman House, is included in Series II of the Grace M. Mayer Papers.

Subseries VI.A. A Life in Photography

Arrangement

The subseries is arranged in order of the book's production rather than in strict chronological order. Folder titles in quotation marks are taken from GMM's original envelopes and file folders.

The dates provided for folders are the dates of their contents' creation.

Scope and Content

The subseries includes detailed documentation of the preparation, editing, and 1963 publication of A Life in Photography, including GMM's work on the book's chronology of ES's life in the form of her note cards, draft chronologies, photographs used for layouts, and corrected book proofs. These are complemented by materials in the Grace M. Mayer Papers (Series III.E), especially her chronological card index there of ES's life and accomplishments, which she used as the basis for the book's chronology.

Correspondence with publishers other than Doubleday about possibly publishing and/or distributing an ES book

GMM transmittance of ES's corrections to proofs of captions and chronology; photocopies and carbons to and from editor T. O'Conor Sloane III; other book-related correspondence

Original and corrected (in GMM's hand) master lists of image credits

Correspondence with MoMA Director of Publications MW and others with questions and corrections to ES chronology

In ink in GMM's hand, with her corrections in pencil

Detailed GMM notes and background information; versions of chronology, some sent to ES and MW, with their edits

Corrected proofs; removed from folder VI.A.6

From original box labeled "Steichen's Way: Volume II (Work in Progress) Chronology by Grace Mayer:" photocopy of chronology with her annotations

From original box labeled "Steichen's Way: Volume II (Work in Progress) Chronology by Grace Mayer:" photocopy of chronology with her annotations

Draft and corrected captions; list of images by number and type (negative, copy prints, etc.); panoramic b/w photographs of prints aligned on shelf for draft book layout

Publisher's proofs of chronology, text with GMM's corrections

Publisher's proofs of images, front matter; removed from folder VI.A.11

Captioned press photographs, for distribution to news services and publications

Scrapbook album of clippings: U.S. and foreign publications (no indication of compiler); these items duplicate many of the clippings in folders VI.A.15-18

Newspaper clippings

Magazine and catalogue clippings

Oversized clippings; removed from folders VI.A.15, 16

Foreign press clippings: in English, Spanish, German, Finnish

Notes and correspondence removed from clippings files; includes some early ES biographical information used in Chronology

Subseries VI.B. Chronological files

Arrangement

Some materials were loose in the original boxes; others were foldered or housed in large envelopes. Folder titles in quotation marks are taken from GMM's original envelopes and file folders. Significant amounts of correspondence or GMM notes were removed and foldered separately from clippings. Materials on the formation of the Edward Steichen Archive are included after the 1968 folders: although the information in them predates that time, the Archive's formation was announced in 1968. Likewise, the documentation of ES's 90th birthday celebration in 1969 follows the general 1969 materials.

Scope and Content

The subseries documents mentions of ES in the form of exhibitions, sales, and auctions that included his works; establishment of the Edward Steichen Archive at MoMA in 1968; and his anniversary celebrations, especially his 90th birthday dinner at the Plaza Hotel in 1969. Hosted by MoMA trustee Henry Allen Moe, and U.S. Camera publisher Tom Maloney, the event gathered photographers, editors, writers, and museum professionals. It is documented in correspondence, response cards, and event planning materials. The materials in the remaining folders in this series are predominantly newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition announcements, sale and auction catalogues, and GMM's notes to the file. Files on the 1979 George Eastman House bequest of ES's prints and other materials include photographs of Steichen family members that were returned to MoMA at the request of Joanna Steichen; these complement the personal photographs in Series I.C.

Clippings, exhibition notices, book reviews, updates to ES chronology, GMM notes; includes November 1963, clippings of Richmond News Leader, featuring one large Steichen photo in each daily issue for the month

Removed from folder VI.B.1

Clippings, exhibition notices, GMM notes, Current Biography ES entry (December 1964)

Clippings, exhibition notices, catalogues

Removed from folder VI.B.4

GMM notes, Joanna Steichen letter from Barbados vacation 2/1/1965; photo of ES and Joanna with President and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson at the October 1965 White House Festival of the Arts

Loose material: clippings, publications, exhibition notices and catalogues, GMM notes; book The Living White House includes photo of ES at the 1965 Festival of the Arts

Clippings; publications; exhibition notices and catalogues; GMM notes; itinerary of Steichens' trip to Luxembourg, France, and London, July 20-August 11, 1966

Clippings, publications, exhibition notices and catalogues, GMM notes; includes ES chronology updated to 1969 with ES edits

Newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition notices

Clippings; removed from folder VI.B.10

GMM notes and correspondence re: exhibition of The Bitter Years in Luxembourg and other topics; updates to ES chronology

A version of A Life in Photography was shown at Exchange National Bank of Chicago (October 23-December 23, 1967), which also had a permanent collection of photography. Includes checklists and print orders.

Includes invitation, catalogue, press clippings; no checklist present

Local press clippings

Clippings; removed from folder VI.B.15

Originally housed with other general oversized materials, image incorporates ES photo of Gloria Swanson: GMM thank you note, Life Magazine clipping about posters as art

Memos, information on ES Study Center

Publicity about formation of ESA; GMM list of categories, memo on tasks, projects, timing; information on NY State Historic Documents Inventory

Clippings (in English and German), congratulatory note from photographer Nicholas Dean

GMM list of categories, definitions, correspondence, memos

Drafts to JS, sample request letters, printed versions of notices to publications seeking ES material in private hands to be donated to ESA

GMM consulted the Archives of American Art in the formation of the ESA.

Held at New York Coliseum, June 7-15, 1969, and included photographs by ES as part of his 90th birthday celebrations: GMM correspondence with ES and others re: printing, photo choices; checklist, captions, clippings, promotional material

Clippings; removed from folder VI.B.27

Draft guest list, guest list with responses noted, invitations

Congratulatory telegrams, cards, regrets; correspondents include musicians Pablo Casals and Rudolf Serkin, President Lyndon Johnson, Nelson Rockefeller, photographers Osborn and Jorgensen from ES's Naval Photographic Unit, Irving Penn, Bill Brandt, Paul Strand, Jerry Uelsman, Lotti Jacobi; collectors Helmut and Alison Gernsheim; art director Alexander Liberman

Plaza Hotel arrangements: menus, correspondence

Response cards returned to MoMA

Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz: 8x10, 11x14; gift of the photographer. Numerical notations from the original glassine envelope housing have been transferred to the prints' backs.

Contact print of event by David Vestal

Framed clippings in handmade cardboard folder by Zachary Gitlin

Guest list, responses, table assignments, sample invitation and response card

Replies, regrets, pre- and post-party correspondence to GMM and organizer Henry A. Moe. Correspondents include photographers Harry Callahan, Brassai, Shirley Burden, Imogen Cunningham, Danny Lyon, WM, W. Eugene Smith, Paul Strand.

Information on Edward J. Steichen Collection at U.S. Naval Academy; clipping Luxembourg News

Clippings, MoMA notices, catalogues

Clippings, MoMA notices (including checklist and wall captions for Photo-Eye of the 20's [MoMA Exh. #931, June 4-September 8, 1970]), catalogues

Clippings, catalogues, framed clipping [by Zachary Gitlin?]

Clipping removed from folder VI.B.42

Held at McCormick Place, Chicago, April 17-25, 1971, sponsored by the National Association of Photographic Manufacturers Inc., and included an exhibition of ES's photographs: promotional material

Clippings, catalogues

Issues of USIS publication Amerika, in Russian and Polish, devoted to photography; removed from folder VI.B.45

Clippings, catalogues; GMM New York Times Book Review query seeking donation of privately held materials for the ESA

Issue of Du magazine on "Utopia," removed from folder VI.B.47

Issues of U.S. Camera Annual, Photography Annual, Photographien 1900-1970

Photo reproduction and photostat

Catalogues, clippings

Catalogues and publications

Clippings; correspondence; GMM notes; resumé of Bobbi Carey, who assisted with Steichen estate materials in Connecticut

Clippings, removed from folder VI.B.53

Catalogues

Clippings, correspondence

Catalogues and publications; includes drafts and corrections of MoMA curator Peter Pollack's ES entry in Encyclopedia Britannica

Calendars from the Fogg Art Museum (Davis Pratt, Associate Curator of Photographs, had been at MoMA)

Material related to The Family of Man at Château de Clervaux, Luxembourg (opened May 15 on permanent exhibition); clippings in English, French, and Luxembourgish

Catalogues and publications

Clippings, correspondence

Auction and sale catalogues (1/2)

Auction and sale catalogues (2/2)

Announcements, exhibition catalogues, checklists for ES exhibit at Helios Gallery (May 4-June 19)

Posters, Helios Gallery exhibition

Clippings, correspondence

Publications

"Photography: The First 80 Years," Colnaghi print sale catalog, GMM copy

Announcements, correspondence, clippings

Publications, catalogues

Poster, Photo Secession exhibition, Munich, April/May; oversize, see flat file

Announcements, correspondence, clippings

Publications, catalogues

Poster and invitation, Edward Steichen, David Mirvish Gallery

Announcements, correspondence, clippings

Publications, catalogues

Centennial exhibition at George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, marking donation by Joanna Steichen of 1,500 ES prints to their permanent collection

Poster, centennial exhibition, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY

Correspondence with Swiss photographer René Burri and Kunsthaus Zurich curator Rosselini Bischof Burri re: ES exhibition there

Clippings and announcements (in English and German)

Photocopies from 1900-1902 exhibitions that included ES work, and ES portraits in Vogue and Vanity Fair; exhibition loan checklist; installation photographs by René Burri, 8x10 b/w prints

Clippings (in German) with translations and correspondence [from photography editor and writer Inge Bondi?]

Exhibition notices, clippings, correspondence

Exhibition notices, clippings, correspondence; typescript [of presentation?] by John Morris, detailing his experience with ES, and as photo editor at Magnum Photos, The New York Times, and elsewhere

Exhibition announcements, clippings

GMM correspondence with George Eastman House; b/w prints by ES and others of Steichen family members including Kate and Mary Steichen, granddaughters Nell and Linda Martin, Sandburgs: returned to GMM for the ESA from George Eastman House, at the direction of Joanna Steichen

B/w prints by ES and others of Steichen family members including Kate and Mary Steichen, granddaughters Nell and Linda Martin, Sandburgs: returned to GMM for the ESA from George Eastman House, at the direction of Joanna Steichen

B/w prints by ES and others of Steichen family members including Kate and Mary Steichen, granddaughters Nell and Linda Martin, Sandburgs: returned to GMM for the ESA from George Eastman House, at the direction of Joanna Steichen

B/w prints by ES and others of Steichen family members including Kate and Mary Steichen, granddaughters Nell and Linda Martin, Sandburgs: returned to GMM for the ESA from George Eastman House, at the direction of Joanna Steichen

Photocopied typescript Chronology and Bibliography (Volume II) of GMM's unpublished biography of ES, Steichen's Way (see also GMM Papers, Series III); returned to GMM for the ESA from George Eastman House, at the direction of Joanna Steichen

Photocopied typescript Chronology and Bibliography (Volume II) of GMM's unpublished biography of ES, Steichen's Way (see also GMM Papers, Series III); returned to GMM for the ESA from George Eastman House, at the direction of Joanna Steichen

Exhibition announcements, clippings

MoMA's Edward Steichen Photography Center inaugural installation checklist; exhibition announcements, auction catalogue

Exhibition catalogue

Exhibition announcements

Program/catalogue from University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee Steichen 109 exhibition, part of School of Fine Arts 25th anniversary celebrations (see also Series I.B).

Series VII. Documentation of ES's Painting, Photography, and Other Works

Arrangement

The series is arranged chronologically in five subseries:

Subseries A. Paintings
Subseries B. Photographs
Subseries C. Portfolios, books, and photomurals
Subseries D. Delphiniums
Subseries E. The shadblow tree

Scope and Content

Series VII includes documentation of works by Steichen in a variety of media: painting, photography, books, horticulture, and film, including some of his photography (especially portraits) for the Condé Nast publications Vogue and Vanity Fair.

Subseries VII.A. Paintings

Arrangement

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

Scope and Content

The subseries includes contemporaneous information on ES's career as a painter, as well as catalogues of exhibitions of his work in the 1980s; it duplicates some of the clippings and references on this subject from Series II.A. GMM corresponded extensively with collectors and museum curators to verify their holdings of Steichen items, and responded to inquiries about specific works' dates and provenance. Folder titles in quotation marks are GMM's; those in italics refer to specific paintings. Many such folders include prints and/or transparencies of the images. Because there was no catalogue raisonée of ES's paintings at the time this collection was processed, their detailed documentation here is probably unique.

This subseries also documents some paintings by others in ES's collection, including both GMM and Kate Rodina Steichen's files on Matisse's Vue de Collioure avec l'eglise, and installation photographs (negatives only) from Charles Sheeler [MoMA Exh. #90, October 2-November 1, 1939], which included works from ES's collection.

Untitled (Two Soldiers); with letter carbon GMM-Mrs. John Nicolas Brown (11/18/1976) requesting information on basis of painting, and GMM annotations

Cherry Trees in Bloom, Untitled (Seascape)

8x10 b/w prints, copy negatives; TL carbon AHB-Eliot Fitch Bartlett (5/3/1963) re: donation of painting to the MoMA Building Fund. Originals of Untitled (Two Soldiers); Cherry Trees in Bloom; and Untitled (Seascape) are in folders VII.A.1* and VII.A.2*.

GMM correspondence, notes to the file, 8x10 b/w prints and copy negatives of Oochens painting and murals Exaltations of Flowers painted for Agnes and Eugene Meyer. The Oochens were imaginary characters ES created for his children's entertainment and painted to illustrate various stories about them.

GMM correspondence, notes to the file; includes ALS Aline Meyer Liebman (daughter of Eugene Meyer, original owner of ES's painted mural)-GMM (12/11/1982), signed note ES-GMM (undated) re: mentions of his paintings in New York Sun

Seven Springs Center was established in 1973 in what had been the Mt. Kisco home of ES's friends and patrons, Eugene and Agnes Meyer (see folders VII.A.5 and VII.A.42 for information on the ES mural found there in 1980). Clipping is William Innes Homer's 1974 American Art Journal article "Eduard Steichen as Painter and Photographer, 1897-1908."

GMM correspondence with F.E.M. Robinson, whose mother hosted ES's first painting exhibition in 1900 at her home in Milwaukee, WI

GMM corresponded with appraisers (Linda Lichtenberg Kaplan); museum, gallery, and auction house specialists (Weston Naef, J. Paul Getty Museum; Catherine J. Morris, Grand Central Art Galleries; dealer Edward A. Boerner; Robert J. Elowitch, Barridoff Galleries); and private collectors and owners (Tom McKeon, Lawrence and Frances Miller, Dale Hover, William Hewitt) to trace the ownership and sale of specific ES paintings and answer provenance queries.

GMM notes to file

GMM correspondence to and from various individual and institutional owners and holders of Steichen paintings

GMM correspondence to and from various individual and institutional owners and holders of Steichen paintings; some include photographic images

GMM correspondence to and from various individual and institutional owners and holders of Steichen paintings; some include photographic images

GMM correspondence to and from various individual and institutional owners and holders of Steichen paintings; some include photographic images

GMM correspondence to and from various individual and institutional owners and holders of Steichen paintings; some include photographic images

GMM correspondence, checklist, clippings

8x10 b/w prints of images in the exhibition, some captioned on the back; two include auction information

GMM correspondence, clippings

Draft text for catalogue, printed catalogue, invitations, Heckscher Museum Annual Report 1984/85

Charcoal by Steichen once in collection of Gertrude Kasebier; GMM correspondence, b/w prints, copy negatives

Photostats, GMM correspondence, notes to the file on exhibitions that included ES's work during this period

Clippings, catalogues, correspondence

"Stieglitz, Steichen and the Photo-Secession," Phillips, New York, 1980: includes entries for ES photographs and 1902 landscape oil painting; annotated in GMM's hand with prices paid, some purchasers' names, corrections to text

GMM correspondence, b/w print of images

In collection of Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington, NY; GMM notes, b/w print

Photocopied correspondence of Crile (daughter of CS) with dealer Alexander Bylica, and originals to GMM re: paintings

GMM correspondence with owner Barry Novak; color transparency, b/w print, copy negative

Color slides, catalogue worksheet, GMM correspondence

Invitation and catalogue, GMM correspondence

Clippings, photostats, typed transcripts of newspaper articles, some with accompanying GMM notes

"American Imagination and Symbolist Painting," Grey Art Gallery, 1979; "Into the Melting Pot: The Immigration of American Modernism (1909-1929)," Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William & Mary, 1984: inscribed to GMM by guest curator Percy North

GMM notes, photocopied TLS ES-GMM (5/17/1967) re: painting in Whitney Museum collection; b/w print

GMM notes, clippings. Kate Rodina Steichen's Vue de Collioure avec l'eglise, by Matisse, was given to ES by Matisse at Kate's birth, and to her by ES in 1961. She had loaned it to MoMA and later bequeathed it to her grandniece Francesca Calderone-Steichen.

Correspondence about her Vue de Collioure avec l'eglise, including loan to Louvre Museum for 1970 centennial, film by Hans Namuth, and 1990 law suit.

B/w image only, with ownership information on back in GMM's hand

Correspondence and inquiries re: landscape and two other ES paintings in possession of Marie-Merrill Ewing, of her mother and grandmother

GMM notes; photocopied TLS Kate Rodina Steichen-GMM (4/29/1971) about work by Rodin and Brâncuși in the family's collection

Inquiries to GMM, and her correspondence to Mary and Kate Rodina Steichen about the painting, which was in the collection of Joanna Steichen

Correspondence, images re: Nocturne - Temple d'Amour donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others

Photostat of New York American 2/1/1915 article, "Novel mural decorations by Eduard J. Steichen;" 16x20 enlargements of contact sheets from two rolls of b/w film taken by MoMA curator Dennis Longwell of the unrolling of ES and Picabia murals on 3/27/1974 at a restorer's studio, Newark, NJ. The murals, painted for Eugene and Agnes Meyer, had been found rolled up in Mt. Kisco, NY, and were restored before being returned to MoMA in 1975.

GMM note; negatives for the Dennis Longwell contacts in folder VII.A.39

GMM correspondence with sitter's niece

10.5x13.5 b/w print by Rolf Petersen; shows one of a series of seven panels ES had painted for Agnes and Eugene Meyer and, before being found in Mt. Kisco, NY, had been considered lost; they were presented to MoMA in 1975. Print is annotated on back in GMM's hand.

Oil on cardboard, 8x10.5; captioned on back in ES's hand "Painting by Francois/ my gardener/ at Voulangis/ set m. [?] France," with 8x10 b/w print and copy negative; GMM notes, including "For description of this painting, see Wisdom Series telecast, p. 52" (now in Series IX.C). ES recounts in A Life in Photography that when he took up painting again after World War I and saw that his gardener could paint as well as he could, he made the decision to return to photography.

GMM notes, 8x10 b/w print reproductions of geometric ES painting. The Oochens were imaginary characters ES created for his children's entertainment and painted to illustrate various stories about them.

Acrylic on paper, 9.25x10.5. The Oochens were imaginary characters ES created for his children's entertainment and painted to illustrate various stories about them.

Image, encyclopedia extracts, and June 1989 inaugural issue of Mirabella with photo essay on gallerist Robert Miller's apartment showing Steichen's abstract painting

GMM note, photographic negative, correspondence re: use of Sheeler in 1965 planned exhibition at Albany Institute of History and Art

Negatives only; ES owned items that were exhibited in Charles Sheeler [MoMA Exh. #90, October 2-November 1, 1939]

Photocopy of original container for negatives in folder VII.A.48; ES owned items that were exhibited in Charles Sheeler [MoMA Exh. #90, October 2-November 1, 1939].

Paintings conservator who worked on ES paintings and an icon in his collection; correspondence, photographic prints of works before and after conservation

GMM correspondence re: Across the Crest of the Great Divide, auctioned at Sotheby Parke-Bernet in 1979

With Marie Czach about museums and dealers; and note for file re: correspondence between JS and Maynard White

1987 request from Robert Miller Gallery for assistance in dating painting; matted color transparency

GMM correspondence with niece of Alfred Stieglitz; color slides

Letter from Ira Spanierman Gallery (10/23/1985) identifying location of work as Bouquet Lodge, Willsboro, NY, home of the Simpson family; transparency

Pencil and crayon drawing, matted

Subseries VII.B. Photography

Arrangement

The subseries is organized in two parts

Subseries VII.B.i. Background information
Subseries VII.B.ii. Documentation of ES photographs in other collections

Subseries VII.B.i. Background information, 1899-1963

Arrangement

The subseries is arranged chronologically. Some groups of folders (e.g., Color, Portraits, Rodin) are in their own chronological order within the subseries' overall order.

The dates provided in the folder titles are the dates referred to in their contents, not the date of the items' creation.

Scope and Content

The subseries includes documentation of photographs by ES, including those he made as an employee of Condé Nast for Vogue and Vanity Fair, with emphasis on his portraits. Some of the prints included here were specifically made for use in A Life in Photography (published 1962) and were returned from Doubleday; a few were printed contemporaneously and bear either ES's signature or his studio stamp. Some of this information duplicates that in Series III, which also includes tear-sheets from the publications that show ES's photographs in their originally published context.

There is extensive information on ES's photographs of sculptors Auguste Rodin and Constantin Brâncuși, each of which are the best-known images of these artists.

ES's work in color documented here ranges from his 1904 autochromes to his wartime images from the film Fighting Lady. There is no explanation for the mounted images in the latter folders.

GMM correspondence, copy prints of Magnolia Blossom, Melting Snow

Clippings, correspondence

GMM notes; copy print of image from Charles Caffin papers, Archives of American Art

GMM notes, correspondence, clippings