Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen, originally Édouard Jean Steichen, was born in Luxembourg on March 27, 1879, and his family immigrated to the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry in 1881. His early photographs reflect his training as a painter; he often used chemical processes to give prints the soft look of mezzotints or wash drawings.⁠[1]

In 1900, on his way to study painting in Paris, the 21-year-old Steichen showed his work to Alfred Stieglitz in New York, who bought three of his photographs for $5 each. In France he turned his energies to photography and built a reputation for portraits of artists, writers and society figures. Returning to New York in August 1902, he opened a portrait studio at 291 Fifth Avenue, and that year he joined Stieglitz in forming the Photo-Secession; Camera Work reproduced 65 of his photographs and three of his paintings, more than any other artist. In 1905 he turned his studio over to Stieglitz as a gallery, which became known as “291.”⁠[2][1]

After World War I his style moved from painterly Impressionism to sharp realism, and his portraits of artists and celebrities from the 1920s and ’30s are noted as evocations of character. Clarisse CoudertClarisse CoudertClarisse Coudert was the first wife of Condé Montrose Nast and came from a New York society family of French descent. They married in 1902 and had a son, Charles, and a daughter, Natica; her social background helped Nast enter New York society. They separated in 1919 and divorced in 1925.Open the full entry, Condé Montrose NastCondé Montrose NastCondé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) was an American magazine publisher and the founder of Condé Nast Publications. After running advertising for Collier’s Weekly, he bought Vogue in 1909 and went on to publish House & Garden and Vanity Fair, championing the “class publication” aimed at a defined readership; he lost control of his company after the 1929 stock market crash.Open the full entry’s first wife, socialized with him while living in France in 1906.⁠[1][3]

At the outbreak of World War II the U.S. Navy commissioned him to organize a department to photograph the war at sea. In 1955 he organized the exhibition The Family of Man, 503 photographs selected from more than two million, which was seen by more than nine million people worldwide. He died in West Redding, ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a U.S. state in the New England region. Its capital is Hartford and its largest city is Bridgeport (2010 census). It entered the Union on January 9, 1788, as the 5th state, and had a population of 3,605,944 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry, on March 25, 1973.⁠[1]

Condé NastCondé NastCondé Nast is a global media company based in New York whose brands include Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ and Wired. It grew out of the publishing business Condé Montrose Nast built after buying Vogue in 1909, was acquired by Samuel I. Newhouse in 1959 and belongs to Advance, the Newhouse family’s private company. After Roger Lynch stepped down as chief executive in September 2026, lead independent director Mike Perlis became interim CEO.Open the full entry: Official website: https://www.condenast.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[4]