5/30/09 - 11/8/09

John Stomberg, Deputy Director/Chief Curator and Lecturer in Art at WCMA, with assistance by Veronika Totos, MA '09.

Featuring almost 300 vintage prints, these two exhibitions highlight different periods from the photographic career of Edward Steichen (b. Bivange, Luxembourg, 1879-1973). In High Fashion, the Condé Nast Years, 1923–1937 is the first comprehensive presentation of Steichen work made for the fashion and glamour industry. Episodes from a Life in Photography surveys Steichen’s photography throughout his career.

Edward Steichen: Episodes from a Life in Photography features 90 photographs from throughout Steichen’s prolific career, presenting many different aspects and themes. It also highlights some of the technical and artistic issues that Steichen explored in his printing methods. Episodes depicts Steichen’s transition from pictorialist to modernist photography, which is epitomized by his fashion and glamour photography. Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, the Condé Nast Years, 1923–1937 presents over 180 photographs that Steichen made while working as Chief Photographer for two of Condé Nast’s best-known magazines: Vogue and Vanity Fair. Together these two exhibitions demonstrate the dynamism of American modernism and Steichen’s critical role in its development.

In High Fashion, the North American exhibition, was organized by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis, the Musée de E’lysée, Switzerland, and the International Center of Photography, NY in collaboration with WCMA.