Painting or Photography?

Across the Salt Marshes, ca. 1905
Edward Steichen (1879-1973)
15 1/16 x 17 7/8 in
oil on canvas?
Toledo Museum of Art 1912.4
Image ALH

It's wonderful to find out an artist's creative history. Edward Steichen, who most people know as a photographer also trained in painting and drawing. His Tonalist (sorry this is a weak link) paintings share an affinity with his much of his photography. The soft focus and size of this painting (I'll pop in dimensions when I get to work tomorrow - need to look them up) remind me of a photograph. I was initially drawn to the quiet, soft beauty of the painting, and when checking out the wall label was surprised to see that it was Edward Steichen, I had never known he was a painter as well. A quick search brought up another work with a similar title, and wonderfully, it is a Steichen photograph of the same scene. Of course, due to the digital nature, its very difficult to pay a lot of attention to differences in the images. The photograph is also dated 1905 and I would assume it came first. His early photography had this dreamlike quality and helped to elevate his work to a fine status, being particularly painterly.

I'd like to note that in our museum collections system, the image of this painting looks utterly different than my photograph and what I recall seeing in the gallery, more purples and blues than the greenish blues. Ah, frustrations of imaging. I've also realized that the work comes across differently online when shown with its frame.

Steichen also rounded out his career as curator of photography at Museum of Modern Art, as a Fashion and celebrity photographer and a documentary photographer. "The Frustrating Genius of Edward Steichen".

Pure Landscape

Albrecht Altdorfer (1480?-1538)
Donaulandschaft bei Regensburg mit dem Scheuchenberg =
Danube Landscape c1528
30x22 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

This landscape by Albrecht Altdorfer holds a little space in my history as being the work of art I wrote my first ever critical paper on. Writing that paper (and subsequently getting an A on it :) quickly started my love affair with studying art history and criticism. I barely remember the paper, nor why I chose this landscape painting, just some memories of talking about the blue sky, perspective and the castle nestled in by the mountains in the back.

One of the first "pure landscape" paintings, this is one of possibly only two by Altdorfer that include no figures. Part of the Danube School. A group of painters from the early 16th century working in and around the Danube were some of the first to work in pure landscapes and the use of a more painterly style.