EDWARD STEICHEN 1879-1973

Lot 227
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Estimation :
1500 - 2000 EUR
EDWARD STEICHEN 1879-1973
"Balzac - The Silhouette, 4 a.m.", work by Auguste Rodin, garden of Meudon, 1908. Heliogravure mounted under mat, from the magazine "Camera Work" by Alfred Stieglitz, 1911. Image: 16.1 x 20.6 cm; mounting: 36 x 41 cm. Edward Steichen recounts the shooting session organised in the gardens of Rodin's house in Meudon. At the sculptor's request, he photographed the plaster of this work, which was so controversial in broad daylight but became aware of its visual power when it appeared at night. "I photographed and painted Rodin's 'Balzac' that he had taken out in the open air and I did it all in the moonlight - spending two whole nights from sunset to sunrise - it was fabulous." Auguste Rodin expressed his enthusiasm when he discovered the images that Steichen then reworked using bichromate gumming and retouching techniques to accentuate the moonlight. "It's Christ walking in the desert," he tells Steichen. Your photographs will make the world understand my Balzac."
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