Edward J. Steichen (America, 1879-1973) Across the Salt Marches, Huntington. Oil on canvas, about 1905. Gift of Florence Scott Libbey, 1912.4. Gallery 30B.
Viewed as if through a veil, the salt marshes of Huntington, Long Island, take on a mysterious, evocative aura in Edward Steichen's painting. A champion of European and American modernism and of photography as art, Steichen stopped painting around 1921, burning all of the paintings in his studio in order to commit himself fully to photography. This rare canvas shows an intriguing relationship to his dreamy, soft-focus photographs of the early 1900s.
This work is currenty on view in Gallery 30B.