The Family Man
Edward Steichen
Museum Of Modern Art
English
Prologue by Carl Sandburg.
Hardcover
Rare Edition (Unknown if First Edition)
192 Pages
215 x 282 mm
1995
ISBN Not available
“In 1955, Steichen opened the exhibition The Family of Man, the most universally popular photography exhibition ever organized” (Icons of Photography, 16) and still considered the medium’s “landmark show” (Roth, 146). Structured as “a journey through the seven stages of man, from birth to death, [it was] compiled from pictures taken all around the world… It tends to depoliticize the human condition by emphasizing universals rather than specifics” (Parr & Badger I:210). Steichen’s inscription fondly refers to his longtime neighbor in West Redding, Connecticut, Elmo Roper, who “acquired national fame… [as one of] the first to develop the modern political polls” (New York Times). First published earlier the same year by the Museum of Modern Art, this later printing includes all 503 photographs and an additional section on the installation itself.
(source: https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/product/the-family-of-man-edward-steichen-first-edition-rare/)
(source: https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/product/the-family-of-man-edward-steichen-first-edition-rare/)
About the Exhibition
The Family of Man comprises 503 photographs by 273 artists from 68 countries and was created by Edward Steichen for the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Presented for the first time in 1955, the exhibition was conceived as a manifesto for peace and the fundamental equality of mankind, expressed through the humanist photography of the post-war years. Images by artists such as Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Robert Doisneau, August Sander and Ansel Adams were staged in a modernist and spectacular manner. Having toured the globe and been displayed in over 150 museums worldwide, the final, complete version of the exhibition was permanently installed in Clervaux Castle in 1994. Since its creation, The Family of Man has attracted over 10 million visitors and entered the history of photography as a legendary exhibition. In 2003, the collection was listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register.
(source: https://steichencollections-cna.lu/eng/collections/1_the-family-of-man)
The Family of Man comprises 503 photographs by 273 artists from 68 countries and was created by Edward Steichen for the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Presented for the first time in 1955, the exhibition was conceived as a manifesto for peace and the fundamental equality of mankind, expressed through the humanist photography of the post-war years. Images by artists such as Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Robert Doisneau, August Sander and Ansel Adams were staged in a modernist and spectacular manner. Having toured the globe and been displayed in over 150 museums worldwide, the final, complete version of the exhibition was permanently installed in Clervaux Castle in 1994. Since its creation, The Family of Man has attracted over 10 million visitors and entered the history of photography as a legendary exhibition. In 2003, the collection was listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register.
(source: https://steichencollections-cna.lu/eng/collections/1_the-family-of-man)
About the Artist
Edward Jean Steichen (b. 1879 – 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography.Steichen was credited with transforming photography into an art form. His photographs appeared in Alfred Stieglitz’s groundbreaking magazine Camera Work more often than anyone else during its publication run from 1903 to 1917. Stieglitz hailed him as “the greatest photographer that ever lived”.As a pioneer of fashion photography, Steichen’s gown images for the magazine Art et Décoration in 1911 were the first modern fashion photographs to be published. From 1923 to 1938, Steichen served as chief photographer for the Condé Nast magazines Vogue and Vanity Fair, while also working for many advertising agencies, including J. Walter Thompson. During these years, Steichen was regarded as the most popular and highest-paid photographer in the world.After the United States’ entry into World War II, Steichen was invited by the United States Navy to serve as Director of the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit. In 1944, he directed the war documentary The Fighting Lady, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 17th Academy Awards. From 1947 to 1961, Steichen served as Director of the Department of Photography at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. While there, he curated and assembled exhibits including The Family of Man, which was seen by nine million people. In 2003, the Family of Man photographic collection was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in recognition of its historical value.In February 2006, a print of Steichen’s early pictorialist photograph, The Pond—Moonlight (1904), sold for US$2.9 million—at the time, the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction.
(source: https://www.moma.org/artists/5623)
Edward Jean Steichen (b. 1879 – 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography.Steichen was credited with transforming photography into an art form. His photographs appeared in Alfred Stieglitz’s groundbreaking magazine Camera Work more often than anyone else during its publication run from 1903 to 1917. Stieglitz hailed him as “the greatest photographer that ever lived”.As a pioneer of fashion photography, Steichen’s gown images for the magazine Art et Décoration in 1911 were the first modern fashion photographs to be published. From 1923 to 1938, Steichen served as chief photographer for the Condé Nast magazines Vogue and Vanity Fair, while also working for many advertising agencies, including J. Walter Thompson. During these years, Steichen was regarded as the most popular and highest-paid photographer in the world.After the United States’ entry into World War II, Steichen was invited by the United States Navy to serve as Director of the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit. In 1944, he directed the war documentary The Fighting Lady, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 17th Academy Awards. From 1947 to 1961, Steichen served as Director of the Department of Photography at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. While there, he curated and assembled exhibits including The Family of Man, which was seen by nine million people. In 2003, the Family of Man photographic collection was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in recognition of its historical value.In February 2006, a print of Steichen’s early pictorialist photograph, The Pond—Moonlight (1904), sold for US$2.9 million—at the time, the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction.
(source: https://www.moma.org/artists/5623)
About the Publisher
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world. MoMA’s collection offers an overview of modern and contemporary art, including works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated books and artist’s books, film, and electronic media. The MoMA Library includes approximately 300,000 books and exhibition catalogs, more than 1,000 periodical titles, and more than 40,000 files of ephemera about individual artists and groups.[4] The archives hold primary source material related to the history of modern and contemporary art. It attracted 1,160,686 visitors in 2021, an increase of sixty-four percent from 2020. It ranked 15th on the list of most visited art museums in the world in 2021.
moma.org
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Modern_Art)
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world. MoMA’s collection offers an overview of modern and contemporary art, including works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated books and artist’s books, film, and electronic media. The MoMA Library includes approximately 300,000 books and exhibition catalogs, more than 1,000 periodical titles, and more than 40,000 files of ephemera about individual artists and groups.[4] The archives hold primary source material related to the history of modern and contemporary art. It attracted 1,160,686 visitors in 2021, an increase of sixty-four percent from 2020. It ranked 15th on the list of most visited art museums in the world in 2021.
moma.org
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Modern_Art)
