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.

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