Edward Steichen

title, date, and annotations 'Hollywood' and 'No. 7' in the negative, signed, titled, and dated in ink, and with numerical notations in pencil and red crayon and a 'Museum of Modern Art Department of Photographs' stamp on the reverse, 1928

The photographer to Wayne Miller

By descent to the present owners

Vanity Fair, October 1929, p. 62

LIFE, 10 January 1955, Vol. 38, No. 2, cover

Edward Steichen, A Life in Photography, (New York, 1963), pl. 125

Steichen the Photographer (The Museum of Modern Art, 1961), p. 49

Beaumont Newhall, The History of Photography from 1839 to the Present Day (The Museum of Modern Art, 1964), p. 187

Joanna Steichen, Steichen's Legacy: Photographs, 1895-1973 (New York, 2000), pl. 73

Todd Brandow and William A. Ewing, Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography (Minneapolis: Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography and Musée de L'Elysée, Lausanne, 2007), pl. 139

Patricia Johnson, Real Fantasies: Edward Steichen's Advertising Photography (Berkeley, 1997), fig. 7.11, p. 182

This early contact print, on double-weight paper with a slightly glossy surface, is in generally very good condition. The creamy highlights are pleasingly slightly warm-toned, and the dark areas of the image are a deep, rich black. Steichen's deliberate and controlled use of light and shadow render a dramatic and highly detailed studio portrait. The photographer's retouching and contouring in the sitter's face are features of the negative. When examined in raking light, a faint, soft crease is barely visible in the left portion of the image. Also visible in raking light are a few unobtrusive glossy deposits of indeterminate nature on the sitter's face. There is a small loss to the upper right margin corner, not affecting the image, and a one-inch diagonal crease that appears to break the emulsion in the upper right corner of the image. An impression of a paperclip along the right edge is only visible upon very close examination. The faint blemish at the center of the left edge is a feature of the negative, and is not a condition issue of the print itself. None of these issues detracts in any way from this impressive early print. This print has recently undergone minor conservation, primarily a surface cleaning. A full treatment report is available upon request from the department. There is some minor wear and tiny losses of emulsion along the black margin edges, and there is creasing at the corners. Soiling, a small brown droplet of indeterminate nature, and age-darkening are visible on the reverse of the print, none of which shows through to the front. Also on the reverse of the print are the following notations in an unidentified hand: 'VF Oct 1929' (in pencil); '5' (circled, in pencil); '1-7-13' (in pencil); '9' (circled, in red crayon); '58-8227' (in red pencil); and an illegible notation, circled, in pencil.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The photograph offered here, of legendary screen siren Greta Garbo, exemplifies Steichen’s expert use of light and shadow to render a dramatic studio portrait.  Taken on the set of the 1928 film A Woman of Affairs, Steichen's photograph used simple props – a kitchen chair draped in a black focusing cloth – and bright arc lamps borrowed from filming to capture Garbo’s intensity.  In his autobiography, A Life in Photography, Steichen gave a vivid recount of the sitting:

‘When Garbo came in to pose for the Vanity Fair photograph, I asked her to sit on the chair.  She straddled it and used its back for resting her arms.  I made five or six exposures, all more or less like her typical movie stills . . . but what bothered me most was her hair.  It was curled and fluffy and hung down over her forehead.  I said, “It’s too bad we’re doing this with that movie hairdo.”  At that, she put her hands up to her forehead and pushed every strand back away from her face, saying, “Oh, this terrible hair.” At that moment, the woman came out, like the sun coming out from behind dark clouds.  The full beauty of her magnificent face was revealed’ (unpaginated, Chapter 8). 

This portrait, one of Steichen’s signature images from the 1920s, was published in the October 1929 issue of Vanity Fair, with the caption, ‘Miss Garbo is beginning work on a talking film based on Eugene O’Neill’s famous Anna Christie.’  Garbo was already a silent film icon for her role in Flesh and the Devil (1927), and her leading role as a former prostitute in Anna Christie (1930) earned Garbo her first Academy Award nomination. 

The present photograph comes originally from the collection of Steichen’s friend and colleague, the photographer Wayne Miller (1918-2013).  Steichen and Miller met during World War II, when Steichen selected him to serve in his Naval Aviation Photographic Unit.  After the war, Steichen included Miller’s work in Three Young Photographers (1947), his first exhibition as Director of the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art.  For the monumental 1955 exhibition The Family of Man, Miller and his wife Joan assisted Steichen in soliciting and reviewing millions of photographs for consideration.  Steichen included several of Miller’s photographs in the exhibition and accompanying book, including a series depicting Joan in labor.  The Miller and Steichen families remained exceptionally close, and Miller was at Steichen’s bedside at his death.