Collection of original prints and photomurals by Edward Steichen. The mounted murals may have originated in different exhibits, and then reprinted for the 1933 World’s Fair.

Steichen’s multiple exposure of the Empire State Building, while still under construction, was done in 1932. Steichen was under assignment for Vanity Fair, and he called it "The Maypole." He did it to “capture the dizzying height of what was, in 1932, the tallest building in the world, completed from excavation up in less than a year” (Joanna Steichen, Steichen’s Legacy). In his own words, Steichen says he “conceived of the building as a Maypole and made the double exposure as to suggest the swirl of a Maypole dance” (Steichen, A Life in Photography.The two of the George Washington Bridge and one of Rockefeller Center were also made when those structures were not yet completed, and the images convey “the awe that [Steichen] and his contemporaries felt at mankind’s capacity for technical progress and their faith in its benefits” (Joanna Steichen).

Included in this lot are 5 poster-sized gelatin prints, mounted, with Steichen studio imprimatur on back, along with handwritten notes. Rockefeller Center(1935-38), 47” x 59”•New YorkHarbor(Circa 1931),35” x 47”•George Washington Bridge(Circa 1931),35” x 47”•Steel-work of the George Washington Bridge(Circa 1931),51” x 51”•The Maypole(Empire State Building) (1932) –40.5” x 51”Items from 1933 Chicago World’s Fair installation in New York State building•Architectural blueprints of the exhibit hall –5 sheets, stapled together on left edge --dated Nov. 1, 1932

For many more images of our Steichen collection, including original blueprints, and newspaper clippings, please copy and paste the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5810kzm7h5ivstl/AABxDFhuu1kfSZdmoxAK74dLa?dl=0

For additional and high-resolution images of this lot, please copy & paste the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5810kzm7h5ivstl/AABxDFhuu1kfSZdmoxAK74dLa?dl=0