id: 154817 accession number: 1989.399 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1989.399 updated: 2024-03-26 02:00:06.639000 Rodin - The Thinker, 1902. Edward Steichen (American, 1879–1973). Gelatin silver print; image: 36.2 x 43.8 cm (14 1/4 x 17 1/4 in.); paper: 36.5 x 44 cm (14 3/8 x 17 5/16 in.); matted: 55.9 x 66 cm (22 x 26 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Mann 1989.399 title: Rodin - The Thinker title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1902 creation date earliest: 1902 creation date latest: 1902 current location: creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Mann copyright: --- culture: America, 20th century technique: Gelatin silver print department: Photography collection: PH - American 1900-1950 type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Edward Steichen (American, 1879–1973) - artist Edward Steichen American, b. Luxembourg, 1879-1973 His long and illustrious career places Edward Steichen among the major figures of 20th-century photography. Born Eduard Jean Steichen in Luxembourg, Steichen moved with his family to the United States in 1881, was naturalized a citizen in 1900, and changed the spelling of his first name in 1918. Educated in Wisconsin, he showed an early interest in art. He studied at the Milwaukee Art Students League and was an apprentice lithographer; later he studied painting at the Académie Julian in Paris. Steichen took his first photograph in 1896. Early recognition came in the Second Philadelphia Salon of 1899, and he was encouraged by Clarence H. White. Shortly thereafter, while on his way to Europe, he met Alfred Stieglitz, who bought three of his prints. In 1900 he participated in the New School of American Photography exhibition in London. Steichen's first one-person show, which included paintings as well as photographs, was held in Paris in 1902. He helped to found the Photo-Secession and played an important role in the life and design of its galleries, programs, and publications, including the decision to exhibit international works in a variety of media. Steichen was the commander of aerial photography for the American Expeditionary Forces during the First World War. After the war, he became chief photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair, and a well-known portraitist. During World War II he was in charge of all navy combat photography and was also responsible for the exhibitions Road to Victory (1942) and Power in the Pacific (1945) at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. These, along with his 1955 show, The Family of Man, established a new, more popular form of photographic exhibition. In 1947 he was made director of the museum's department of photography, a position he held until 1962. In 1961 the Museum of Modern Art mounted a retrospective of Steichen's work. The following year he received the Medal of Freedom from President John F. Kennedy. His photographs have been represented in many exhibitions and publications, including the book Steichen the Photographer, with a text by his brother-in-law, Carl Sandburg. T.W.F. --- measurements: Image: 36.2 x 43.8 cm (14 1/4 x 17 1/4 in.); Paper: 36.5 x 44 cm (14 3/8 x 17 5/16 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 66 cm (22 x 26 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Written in negative on recto: "STEICHEN / CXCII" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Year in Review for 1989 opening date: 1990-02-06T05:00:00 The Year in Review for 1989. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-April 15, 1990). title: Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 1996-11-24T05:00:00 Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997). title: Artists Photographing Artists opening date: 2001-10-13T00:00:00 Artists Photographing Artists. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2001-February 27, 2002). title: Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2007-06-24T00:00:00 Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-September 16, 2007); Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh, PA (October 3, 2009-January 3, 2010). title: Shadows and Dreams: Pictorialist Photography in America opening date: 2015-09-05T00:00:00 Shadows and Dreams: Pictorialist Photography in America. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 5, 2015-January 17, 2016). title: Beyond Truth: Photography after the Shutter opening date: 2019-02-10T05:00:00 Beyond Truth: Photography after the Shutter. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2019). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS E. H. T. "The Year in Review: Selections 1989." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 2 (1990): 38-78. page number: p. 69, no. 59 url: www.jstor.org/stable/25160106 Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. page number: Reproduced: P. 329 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 307 url: --- IMAGES