Edward Steichen

gum-bichromate print, signed and dated in Roman numerals by the photographer in yellow crayon on the image, flush-mounted, a paper label annotated 'Eduard J. Steichen, 293 Fifth Ave., "Duse," Price $50.00, Copyright 1904 by E. J. Steichen,' by the photographer in ink affixed to the reverse, matted, framed, 1903, printed circa 1905-06

Sotheby's New York, 19 May 1980, Sale 4382, Lot 87

Acquired by the present owner from the above

Variant prints of this image:

Camera Work, Steichen Supplement (New York, 1906), p. 11

Edward Steichen, A Life in Photography (New York, 1963), pl. 30

Joanna Steichen, Steichen's Legacy: Photographs, 1895-1973 (New York, 2000), pl. 72

Ben Maddow, Faces: A Narrative History of the Portrait in Photography (Boston, 1977), p. 217

20th Century Photography (Köln: Museum Ludwig, 2001), p. 655

Therese Mulligan and David Wooters, eds., Photography from 1839 to Today (George Eastman House, Taschen, 2000), p. 395

This rich gum-bichromate print has lush olive tones and a matte surface. It is essentially in excellent condition. When the print is viewed in raking light, the photographer's discrete handwork – done possibly in graphite – can be seen. This handwork deftly accentuates the line of the sitter's left jaw line. The print is flush-mounted, and was trimmed somewhat unevenly – this uneven trimming occurs well outside the image area. There is scattered chipping and wear on the very edges of the print, not affecting the image. The print is flush-mounted to stiff paper-backed board. The reverse is somewhat stained, but this has no affect on the image. The paper label, with Steichen's notations, is affixed to the reverse of the mount, and is also somewhat stained.
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.

Steichen noted in his autobiography that the day he photographed Eleonora Duse was the 'most concentrated and exciting experience in portraiture.  In one day I had the job of photographing two great and completely contrasting personalities, J. Pierpont Morgan and Eleonora Duse, within less than an hour's time' (A Life in Photography, unpaginated).  After a challenging portrait sitting with Morgan, Steichen packed up his camera and headed to a Fifth Avenue hotel to photograph Duse.  Although Steichen thought that the sitting went well, Joanna Steichen noted that 'When he went to photograph the legendary actress Eleonora Duse,  . . . he was so captivated by her enchanting personality that his camera eye lost its objectivity, and the sitting had to be redone' (Steichen: A Legacy, p. 89).

Steichen's photograph captures the emotive quality of the great Duse that so affected the audiences of her time.  Shunning make-up and stock theatrical gestures, the Italian thespian Eleonora Duse (1859 – 1924) preferred instead to 'become' her characters on a deeper, more intimate level.  She was referred to Steichen by Alfred Stieglitz, who had been overwhelmed by Duse's performance in Camille in 1893.  'Such a face and what hands!' he later recounted.  'As the woman began to speak, the tears rolled down my cheeks . . . Now the Italian woman gripped all of me.  Even when silent, she satisfied everything within me' (quoted in Dorothy Norman, Alfred Stieglitz: An American Seer, p. 37).  The impact of Duse's Camille stayed with Stieglitz for years.  Rather than alter in any way his memory of that perfect evening, he would not consent when she requested a portrait sitting, and suggested instead Edward Steichen.

The print offered here was almost certainly used for exhibition, and was originally presented on what would have been a larger mount, traces of which remain on the reverse. The label which accompanies the present print gives Steichen's 293 Fifth Avenue address, where his studio was located for only a short period of time: from the spring of 1905 to the fall of 1906.  His studio at this address coincides with a major show of his photographs, his first, at The Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession, held in March of 1906.  The price of $50.00, marked on the label, is entirely consistent with Stieglitz's aggressive pricing of photographs at the time.   Another photograph believed to have been exhibited in this same show, The Pond—Moonlight, was priced at $75.00, and was purchased by the collector John Aspinwall in April of 2006.  Aspinwall's print of The Pond was sold in these rooms on 14 February 2006 (Sale 8165, Important Photographs from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Including Works from the Gilman Paper Company Collection, Lot 6).

A photogravure of Steichen's Duse portrait was included in the special Steichen Supplement of Camera Work, published in the spring of 1906 to coincide with the Steichen exhibition.  At the time of this writing, only four other early prints of this image have been located, two in institutions: a pigment print in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; a platinum print in the collection of the George Eastman House; a platinum and gum print sold in these rooms on 9 October 1991 (Sale 6216, Lot 99), now in a private collection; and a carbon pigment print sold in these rooms on 27 April 2005 (Sale 8086, Lot 34), originally from the collection of the actress Eva LeGalliene. Characteristic of Steichen's work from this time, each is different in interpretation, tonality, and effect.