With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Edward Steichen
Photography
1879 – 1973
Steichen is considered a master of photography and created a new form of fashion photography during the early 20th-century. He experimented with color photography, and created Vogue’s first color magazine cover in 1932. And in 1947, he became the first curator of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art.
- Biography/Description of Work
Steichen was born in Luxembourg but immigrated to Chicago with his family. At the age of 15, Steichen began a four year lithography apprenticeship with the American Fine Art Company. Steichen moved to Paris when he was 21, and explored painting and photography, meeting artists such as Auguste Rodin, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cézanne. By 1903, Steichen had returned to the United States, moved to New York City, and set up a studio at 291 Fifth Avenue. During this time, Steichen’s photography was influenced by Impressionist paintings as he would blur the lens of his camera to create a distorted picture. He partnered with Alfred Stieglitz and helped hold exhibits dedicated to photography and other disciplines of art. In 1905, Steichen moved to a larger studio, leaving the smaller one for Stieglitz; it became known as Gallery 291, where Stieglitz showed art by famous artists, such as Rodin, Matisse, and Cézanne, all of whom were connected to Stieglitz through Steichen. In 1917, as the United States entered World War I, Steichen joined the Army Signal Corps Photographic Section in the Air Service. He was quickly promoted up the ranks and ended up with 55 officers and 1,000 men working under him, mapping the terrain to the German lines. They gathered information on enemy artillery positions and troop movements using aerial photography. After World War I ended, Steichen decided to give up painting and focus on photography. To celebrate this decision, he built a bonfire on his property outside of Paris, and destroyed all his paintings. In 1923, he began working for Condé Nast as photographer of Vogue and Vanity Fair magazines. He became the most sought after and expensive photographer. In 1932, Vogue published their first color magazine cover, a photograph Steichen took of a model wearing a red swimsuit. He resigned from Condé Nast in 1938, and closed his New York City studio. In 1942, after the United States entered World War II, Steichen joined the Navy to work for a unit of photographers. Throughout the war he worked on documentary and public-relations photography. “The Fighting Lady,” a documentary which he directed, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1945. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City hired Steichen as the Director of Photography in 1947. Steichen was the first person to hold this newly created position, and he remained at the Museum of Modern Art until 1962, retiring at the age of 83. After retirement, he spent much of his free time photographing the trees and ponds on his property. Edward Steichen continued to photograph the world around him until his death.
- Sources view
- Uconn Database, The Historic New York Times, They All Lived in Redding by Dennis Paget, http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/steichen/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Steichen, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/stei/hd_stei.htm, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAPsteichen.htm, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/In-Vogue.html, http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=1816, http://www.nga.gov/feature/artnation/steichen/index.shtm, Steichen's Legacy by Joanna Steichen
- Associated Resource(s)