Snow Bound - Dawn

Maker Edward Jean Steichen (American, 1879 - 1973)

Collections

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1915

Mediumoil on canvas board

Dimensions12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm.)

SignedSigned and dated in lower right of recto: Steichen / MDCCCCXV

InscribedSigned and dated in lower right of recto: Steichen / MDCCCCXV

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Purchased with funds from the Art Collectors' Council

Status

On view

Label TextRenowned as one of the foremost photographers of the 20th century, Edward Steichen was also a gifted painter. Snow Bound-Dawn reflects Steichen's interests in Tonalism, soft-focus Pictorialist photography, and the effects that different times and seasons have on light. In 1917, Steichen joined the United States Army and was stationed in France, where he served as an advisor for aerial photography. His work during the war making the most sharply focused photographs possible infused him with a new passion for that style of picture-making. In the early 1920s, he returned to America to re-dedicate himself to his career as a photographer, and he destroyed all of his paintings in his possession, making those that survived, such as Snow Bound-Dawn, extremely rare.

Object number2003.8