Description
Book SynopsisIn March 1985, the National Museum of Luxembourg unexpectedly received a generous bequest from the estate of Edward Steichen, the Luxembourg-born and world-renowned American photographer. The bequest comprises a total of 178 prints, including 175 photographs by Steichen himself that cover almost all aspects of his photographic oeuvre — from the pictorialist images of his early years to portraiture, fashion, advertising, landscapes, and family photographs.
For the first time, this extraordinary collection is presented in a comprehensive scholarly manner, with full-page illustrations of all 178 photographs. In addition, the publication includes six new essays by five authors that deal with questions of identification, techniques, and dating of the prints as well as their conservation and preservation. They examine the provenance and impact history of the collection and compare the significance of the Luxembourg donation with other bequests made at the same time to institutions in the United States and overseas.
The significance of the astonishingly large number of family photographs in the Luxembourg bequest and Steichen’s special role as a mediator of Modernism between Europe and the New World are also explored.
Texts by: Kerstin Bartels Gerd Hurm, Julia Niewind, Malgorzata Nowara, Michel Polfer, Françoise Poos, Gilles Zeimet
Table of Contents11 The Steichen Prints of the National Museum of History and Art Luxembourg Provenance and Reception of an Extraordinary Collection Michel Polfer 25 The Identi!cation, Conservation, and Preservation of the Photographs for the MNHA’s Edward Steichen Collection: A Unique Project Kerstin Bartels 41 The MNHA Bequest in Relation to Other Steichen Bequests Around the World: Number, Origin, and Subjects Malgorzata Nowara 49 The Prints from the MNHA’s Steichen Bequest: Techniques, Dating, and Inscriptions Malgorzata Nowara 55 Edward Steichen: The “Lëtzebuerger Jong” who Brought Modernism to the New World Gerd Hurm 69 At Home in the Museum: Edward Steichen’s Family Photographs at the National Museum of History and Art Françoise Poos 79 Catalog Introduction 83 01 -- Early Landscapes 93 02 -- Rodin’s Balzac 99 03 -- Family 155 04 -- Portraits 335 05 -- Nudes 343 06 -- Theater 363 07 -- Advertising & Fashion 387 08 -- Experiments 401 09 -- Nature 423 10 -- Color 453 11 -- Other photographers 460 Reference Literature
