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Lot Essay
"It is typically American in conception as well as execution. It is a curiosity of modern architecture, solely built for utilitarian purposes, and at the same time a masterpiece of iron-construction. It is a building without a main façade, resembling more than anything else the prow of a giant man-of-war. And we would not be astonished in the least, if the whole triangular block would suddenly begin to move northward through the crowd of pedestrians and traffic of our two leading thoroughfares, which would break like waves of the ocean on the huge prow-like angle..." (Sadakichi Hartmann, "The 'Flat-Iron' Building: An Esthetical Dissertation," Camera Work, Number 4 (October 1903), p. 36.)
Before his journey to Europe in 1900 at the age of twenty-one, Steichen enjoyed a brief meeting with Stieglitz who insisted that the young artist would give up photography for painting after his visit abroad. Steichen adamantly refused the suggestion and set about to photograph and to educate himself in the movements occuring in Europe.
Soon after his return to New York in 1902, Steichen began living in the studio at 291 Fifth Avenue which would become the "Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession" and later known as '291'. He quickly aligned himself with Stieglitz and joined the New York Camera Club. Steichen also became more closely acquainted with Stieglitz's vision and more specifically with his images of urban New York including The Terminal and The Hand of Man; both works which evoke a similarly nostalgic view of the city.
Made just before his return to France in early 1906, Steichen's portrayal of the Flatiron building exemplifies his vision of both past and future New York. This picturesque haze of old New York charm; the silhouette of horse drawn taxis against the modern abstraction of the Flatiron's form, display Steichen's synthesis of movements taking place both in America and Europe.
Before his journey to Europe in 1900 at the age of twenty-one, Steichen enjoyed a brief meeting with Stieglitz who insisted that the young artist would give up photography for painting after his visit abroad. Steichen adamantly refused the suggestion and set about to photograph and to educate himself in the movements occuring in Europe.
Soon after his return to New York in 1902, Steichen began living in the studio at 291 Fifth Avenue which would become the "Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession" and later known as '291'. He quickly aligned himself with Stieglitz and joined the New York Camera Club. Steichen also became more closely acquainted with Stieglitz's vision and more specifically with his images of urban New York including The Terminal and The Hand of Man; both works which evoke a similarly nostalgic view of the city.
Made just before his return to France in early 1906, Steichen's portrayal of the Flatiron building exemplifies his vision of both past and future New York. This picturesque haze of old New York charm; the silhouette of horse drawn taxis against the modern abstraction of the Flatiron's form, display Steichen's synthesis of movements taking place both in America and Europe.