1. EDWARD STEICHEN, Homeless Women: The Depression, New York from the Portfolio Steichen 25 Photographs 1982 Printed by George Tice (Mamaroneck, New York: Prestige Art, 1982, a total edition of 132), a portfolio of 25 photographs, each mounted, the portfolio label, signed by George Tice and Joanna Steichen, the photographer's widow, in ink, on the reverse, 1903-36, printed 1981-82 by George Tice; together with the printed title, plate list, introduction by Joanna Steichen. 1932, 13x10.375" Gelatin silver print, Printed 1981-1982, Inscribed in pencil on mount verso: MY 1/02; portfolio label with print info, signed by George Tice and Joanna Steichen, on mount verso.

2. EDWARD STEICHEN, Improvisation - "George Washington", New York from the Portfolio Steichen 25 Photographs 1982 Printed by George Tice (Mamaroneck, New York: Prestige Art, 1982, a total edition of 132), a portfolio of 25 photographs, each mounted, the portfolio label, signed by George Tice and Joanna Steichen, the photographer's widow, in ink, on the reverse, 1903-36, printed 1981-82 by George Tice; together with the printed title, plate list, introduction by Joanna Steichen, c. 1925, 9.25x7.375" Gelatin silver print, Printed 1981-1982, Portfolio label with print information, signed by George Tice and Joanna Steichen, on mount verso.

In these two prints, Steichen has used fashion lighting techniques and tones typical of his 1930s style. These prints were made by George Tice, considered one of the greatest printers of his generation. There is a glorification of poverty, and a subtle documentary message, highlighted by the deep, rich tones that Tice and Joanna Steichen chose. Sebastiao Salgado tends to use a similar printing style to diminish the pain of his subjects with romantic lighting and toning.

Edward Steichen (1879-1983), along with Alfred Stieglitz, led an aesthetic revolution that helped shift photography from being merely a documentary record to an art form capable of interpretation and expression. During his long life, Steichen was a successful artist, recognized for his elegant pictorial photographs and tonalist studies of moonlit landscapes. He was also a fashion photographer, curator, writer, and technical innovator. Influenced by the abstract tendencies of Modernism he shifted to a straight style of photography concerned with pure design and strong compositions. Yet his early pictorial photographs filled with soft focused, painterly effects are some of his finest work.

1. Excellent. Minor wear.
2. Excellent. Minor wear.