Crédits : Valentine Vernouillet. Translation: Jill Harry. Picture: Bettmann
Art & Culture
A rich, varied career… Born in 1879 in Bivange, Luxembourg, Edward Steichen’s family emigrated to the US in 1881. Starting out in lithography, he then pursued his passion for painting, then photography. In New York, he met photographer and gallery-owner Alfred Stieglitz with whom he edited the cult review ‘‘Camera Work’’ from 1902, advocating the ideas of Photo-Secession, a movement aiming to see photography recognised as an art in its own right.
In 1911, Edward Steichen became a pioneer with the very first fashion shot published in the French ‘‘Art et Décoration’’ review by Lucien Vogel. He then worked for prestigious magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar. His career was inevitably impacted by World War I, when he directed the photography division of the American Expeditionary Forces. An intense experience leading him to embrace ‘‘straight’’ photography, more realistic, with no frills.
Just after World War II, he was appointed Head of the Photography Department of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). From 1947 to 1962, he organized many exhibitions including ‘‘The Family of Man’’ (1955), a manifesto for peace and equality, the high point of his career. With 503 photographs by 273 artists from 68 countries, it drew over 9 million visitors on its world tour lasting 10 years, and is still today one of the most famous exhibitions in the history of photography. Listed in UNESCO’s ‘‘Memory of the World’’ since 2003, ‘‘The Family of Man’’ is now on permanent exhibition in Luxembourg, at the Château de Clervaux, about 1 hour from the capital.
In Luxembourg, the Steichen Collections present a major part of his work. The exhibitions ‘‘The Bitter Years’’, kept in the National Audiovisual Centre’s archives, and ‘‘The Family of Man’’ in Clervaux, illustrate his talent as curator at the MoMA.
The collection Steichen, ‘‘The Photographer’’ at Luxembourg’s National Museum of History and Art then celebrates his production in personal images and commissions. 15 metres underground, the Am Tunnel Contemporary Art Gallery in Luxembourg-Ville also dedicates permanent exhibition space to his photos.
Today, Edward Steichen’s heritage lives on in his works and his invaluable contribution to recognition of photography. In November 2022, his print ‘‘The Flatiron’’ sold for almost 12 million dollars at auction, the second most valuable photograph ever sold after ‘‘Le Violon d’Ingres’’ by Man Ray.
6, montée du Château, L-9710 Clervaux
1b, rue du Centenaire, L-3475 Dudelange
Marché-aux-Poissons, L-2345 Luxembourg.
16, rue Sainte-Zithe, L-2763 Luxembourg.
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