Edward Steichen photomurals and related material
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Abstract
The collection primarily includes 30 photomural panels by Edward Steichen, prepared for the New York State exhibit at the 1933 Century of Progress International Exposition in Chicago. The panels, each about 100 x 40 inches in size, depict the George Washington Bridge, an Adirondack lake (likely Lake George), and the New York State Education Building in Albany. The collection also includes 5 oversize Steichen photographs and a photomontage intended to be enlarged for display at the Exposition. Finally, the collection includes 5 blueprints of the New York exhibition space drawn by architects Eugene Schoen & Sons. Restrictions apply to the photographs; see the access conditions notes.
Biographical / Historical
Edward Steichen (1879-1973) was a major figure in the evolution of American photography and exhibition design. Steichen's photographs were first exhibited in 1899 and in 1902 he was one of the founding photographers of the Photo-Secession group. During World War I he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps Photographic Section, supervising aerial reconnaissance photography in France. By the time of the photographs in this collection (early 1930s), Steichen had opened a studio at 80 W. 40th Street in New York City and worked as Chief Photographer for Condé Nast publications, with his photographs appearing in Vogue and Vanity Fair.
By 1932, Steichen was working with photomurals. His mural of the George Washington Bridge was exhibited at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1932, winning the competition's prize money. That same year Steichen completed photomurals for the Men's Smoking Room of the Center Theater at Radio City.
In 1933, Chicago hosted a World's Fair, or International Exposition, with the theme of "Century of Progress." One of the exhibition halls was the States Building, which included exhibits by 23 states and territories, New York among them. Steichen was hired to produce photographic murals for New York's space. It is believed that Steichen produced "back-up" copies of his murals in case the ones for display were damaged. The displayed murals were destroyed with the building after the fair and the back-up copies were stored away, unused, until June 4, 2017, when they went on sale (lot 150B) at Tremont Auctions. These murals, along with additional items from lot 150A of that auction, eventually were donated to N-YHS in 2021.
(The above note is based on various on-line sources, especially the Museum of Modern Art's notes for its Steichen Archive, and notes provided by the donor.)
Arrangement
The collection is organized in three series:
Series I. Photomurals
Series II. Other Exhibition Photographs
Series III. Exhibition Blueprints
Scope and Contents
The collection primarily includes 30 photomural panels by Edward Steichen, prepared for the New York State exhibit at the 1933 Century of Progress International Exposition in Chicago. The panels, each about 100 x 40 inches in size, depict the George Washington Bridge, an Adirondack lake (likely Lake George), and the New York State Education Building in Albany. The collection also includes 5 oversize Steichen photographs and a photomontage intended to be enlarged for display at the Exposition. Finally, the collection includes 5 blueprints of the New York exhibition space drawn by architects Eugene Schoen & Sons. Restrictions apply to the photographs; see the access conditions notes.
Subjects
Organizations
Topics
Access Restrictions
Most of the materials in this collection are restricted from access. See the access condition notes at the series level.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: Edward Steichen photomurals, PR 440, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, Darrin C. and Susan E. Binder, 2021
About this Guide
Processing Information
The photomural panels were rolled and boxed, and the oversize photographs enclosed, by conservators Alan Balicki and Katarzyna Vargas in early 2022. Before being rolled, the photomural panels were photographed by staff photographer Glenn Castellano. The blueprints were housed by archivist Larry Weimer. Weimer also prepared the finding aid and provided metadata for the objects to the Museum Department for input to TMS for those objects stored offsite by the Museum. The related TMS numbers are recorded in ArchivesSpace for internal reference.