Edward Steichen

Show & Culture

Beyond his work as an exhibition curator (notably the famous The Family of Man), nature photographer, painter, war photographer, designer, and experimental photographer, Edward Steichen also established himself as one of the great portraitists of the 20th century. Between 1898 and 1937, he produced an impressive series of portraits, including several iconic self-portraits. His photographs of celebrities from his era, produced during his pictorialist period in the early 20th century, include portraits of artists and writers he admired, such as Auguste Rodin, George Bernard Shaw, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Henri Matisse. Other famous portraits were commissions for which he was paid, such as that of financier J. P. Morgan. Between 1923 and 1937, he worked for the iconic magazines Vanity Fair and Vogue. As chief photographer for both publications, Edward Steichen created portraits—often now iconic—of a host of celebrities of the time: Greta Garbo, Winston Churchill, Thomas Mann, Eugene O’Neill, Charlie Chaplin, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Using many illustrations, the event will explore the history and aesthetics of his most emblematic portraits, as well as some lesser-known works.