Edward Steichen - Photographs New York Friday, April 5, 2024 | Phillips

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  • The print offered here is a rare example from the series of metaphysical still-life studies Steichen embarked upon in the early 1920s. The years directly after the First World War were a time of creative transition for the photographer. The harsh reality of the first world war and Steichen's experiences as an aerial photographer for the Army Signal Corps prompted a change in his view of photography. During this time, he trained his camera on the natural forms he found in his garden at Voulangis, France, and executed a series of still-life studies that represent his first steps away from Pictorialism toward Modernism. These studies, characterized by unlikely combinations of abstracted objects and by titles that were either metaphysical in tone or downright cryptic, include several variants of Harmonica Riddle, Triumph of the Egg, Time-Space Continuum, Diagram of Doom, and From the Outer Rim (A Life in Photography, pls. 66, 69, 70, 71, 73, and 74). 

     

    Steichen approached these compositions as a challenge to his aesthetic and technical abilities, and he made variations with subtly different configurations of objects. In the present image, for example, the titular harmonica – which appears as a ghostly object in a variant image – is absent here. Steichen’s ability to create compelling imagery from such elusive subject matter is what makes this period in his career so remarkable. 

     

     

    Read more about the collection

    • Provenance

      Bequest of Edward Steichen by the direction of Joanna T. Steichen
      The Collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York
      Sotheby's, New York, Photographs from The Museum of Modern Art, 23 April 1994, lot 214

    • Literature

      Steichen, A Life in Photography, pl. 69 (variant)
      Sandburg and Lieberman, Steichen the Photographer, p. 36 (variant)
      Joanna Steichen, Steichen's Legacy Photographs 1895-1973, pl. 234

FIGURE + FORM: PHOTOGRAPHS FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION

332

Harmonica Riddle

circa 1921
Gelatin silver print.
9⅝ x 7⅝ in. (24.4 x 19.4 cm)
Annotated '2021' and '9' in unidentified hands in pencil on the verso.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$40,000 - 60,000 

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Contact Specialist

Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs
skrueger@phillips.com
 

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Chairwoman, Americas
vhallett@phillips.com

Photographs

New York Auction 5 April 2024