DOI issue:
Nr. 158 (April 1910)
DOI article:Gallatin, Albert E.: The paintings of Eduard J. Steichen
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19866#0222
Mr. Steichen's Paintings
most beautiful
passages in Eng-
lish literature,
could be placed in
the student's
hands. Neither
Leonardo nor Sir
Joshua nor any
other artist-critic
has left a docu-
ment which can
compare with this.
But Mr. Steichen
has not attempted
the impossible and
striven to grasp
the elusive charm
pervading Whist-
ler's work; his pic-
tures are invari-
ably the distinctly
personal product
of a creative mind
not hampered, but
aided, by tradi-
tion.
The artist's
range of subject,
as well as his meth-
ods of interpreting
and rendering
them, is most
varied. That he
has not permitted
With Permission oj The Photo-Secession himself tO ^et into
MOONLIGHT STROLLERS BY EDUARD J. STEICHEN a Rlt Or his art tO
become mannered
is well illustrated
THE PAINTINGS OF EDUARD J. by such widely differing canvases as the Nocturne
STEICHEN oj the City oj Paris—From Rodin's Studio, by his
BY A. E. GALLATIN Still Lije—Poppies, by one of the sunlit views
across the valley of the Morin and by his impressive
In a Corot or a Daubigny one finds a portrait of Beethoven,
record of the spirit of nature; in a landscape by Mr. Such a picture as the Nocturne of Paris, painted
Steichen a reflection of one of the artist's varying from Rodin's studio, with its superb composition
moods. Mr. Steichen's work is intensely personal and handling of large, flat masses, its intensely
and apart of himself; it is the antithesis of the paint- decorative feeling, its curious and alluring color
ings and pastels of such a master as Degas, with scheme, is very Whistleresque. And so are certain
their literal transcripts of nature. of the other nocturnes, in particular one containing
One side of Mr. Steichen's art owes much to several vague and shadowy figures, but dimly sug-
Whistler, and the master's dicta have never been gested in limpid washes. Lyrical qualities abound
absorbed with more understanding;, assuredly no in these paintings, they are pregnant with the poetry-
better text-book than "Ten o'Clock," with its sound and mystery of night; tonal qualities they contain
criticism and the charmed cadences of some of the of the utmost beauty. To obtain results without
XL
most beautiful
passages in Eng-
lish literature,
could be placed in
the student's
hands. Neither
Leonardo nor Sir
Joshua nor any
other artist-critic
has left a docu-
ment which can
compare with this.
But Mr. Steichen
has not attempted
the impossible and
striven to grasp
the elusive charm
pervading Whist-
ler's work; his pic-
tures are invari-
ably the distinctly
personal product
of a creative mind
not hampered, but
aided, by tradi-
tion.
The artist's
range of subject,
as well as his meth-
ods of interpreting
and rendering
them, is most
varied. That he
has not permitted
With Permission oj The Photo-Secession himself tO ^et into
MOONLIGHT STROLLERS BY EDUARD J. STEICHEN a Rlt Or his art tO
become mannered
is well illustrated
THE PAINTINGS OF EDUARD J. by such widely differing canvases as the Nocturne
STEICHEN oj the City oj Paris—From Rodin's Studio, by his
BY A. E. GALLATIN Still Lije—Poppies, by one of the sunlit views
across the valley of the Morin and by his impressive
In a Corot or a Daubigny one finds a portrait of Beethoven,
record of the spirit of nature; in a landscape by Mr. Such a picture as the Nocturne of Paris, painted
Steichen a reflection of one of the artist's varying from Rodin's studio, with its superb composition
moods. Mr. Steichen's work is intensely personal and handling of large, flat masses, its intensely
and apart of himself; it is the antithesis of the paint- decorative feeling, its curious and alluring color
ings and pastels of such a master as Degas, with scheme, is very Whistleresque. And so are certain
their literal transcripts of nature. of the other nocturnes, in particular one containing
One side of Mr. Steichen's art owes much to several vague and shadowy figures, but dimly sug-
Whistler, and the master's dicta have never been gested in limpid washes. Lyrical qualities abound
absorbed with more understanding;, assuredly no in these paintings, they are pregnant with the poetry-
better text-book than "Ten o'Clock," with its sound and mystery of night; tonal qualities they contain
criticism and the charmed cadences of some of the of the utmost beauty. To obtain results without
XL