Edward Steichen
View of Brancusi Studio

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Artist Edward Steichen (American, born Luxembourg, 1879–1973)American, born Luxembourg, 1879–1973

CultureAmerican

Titles

View of Brancusi Studio

Datec. 1920

PlaceParis, France

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 9 5/8 × 7 5/8 in. (24.4 × 19.4 cm)
Sheet: 9 15/16 × 7 7/8 in. (25.2 × 20 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Lucile Bowden Johnson in honor of Frances G. McLanahan and Alexander K. McLanahan

Object number82.159

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionWhile photographing sculpture in the studio of Auguste Rodin in 1907, Steichen met Constantin Brancusi, who was then Rodin’s assistant, and the two became lifelong friends. A dozen years after making Romantic, painterly depictions of Rodin’s sculpture, Steichen photographed Brancusi’s studio in a style as radically different from his earlier work as Brancusi’s modern sculpture was from Rodin’s. This view of the studio shows several identifiable works, including Cup (1917), Endless Column (1918), and, at the center, the elegant, polished bronze Golden Bird (1919), which soars above the other forms. Such carefully orchestrated compositions, printed on gelatin silver paper without darkroom manipulation, are characteristic of the formal studio portraits Steichen would make for Vanity Fair and Vogue beginning in 1923.
Provenance[Prakapas Gallery, Bronxville, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1982.
Exhibition HistoryExhibited: "In Quest of Excellence," Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, 12 Jan - 22 April 1984 (LN:84.10)

Exhibited: "Evocative Presence: Twentieth Century Photographs in the Museum Collection", The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston February 27 - May 1, 1988.

“A History of Photography II: Selections from the Museum's Collection,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 17–July 19, 2015.

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

verso bottom left in pencil " 80.10.19.1 "

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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