Met Museum The Waking Dream Poster - Edward Steichen 1993

Artist: Edward Steichen (American, born Luxembourg, 1879–1973)
Title: Rodin - The Thinker (1902)
Exhibition: The Waking Dream: Photography's First Century
Collection: Selections from the Gilman Paper Company Collection
Institution: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Exhibition Dates: March 25 – July 4, 1993
Country of Print: Printed in USA
Technique: Original photomechanical lithographic museum exhibition poster
Dimensions: 75 x 68 cm
Status: Excellent vintage condition, unbacked, deep charcoal and dramatic chiaroscuro contrast
 
About the Poster
This original 1993 Met Museum The Waking Dream Poster completes the historic exhibition trilogy published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The visual features Edward Steichen's iconic 1902 pictorialist masterpiece, Rodin - The Thinker. Replicated from an original gum bichromate print, the photograph captures a silhouette of the sculptor Auguste Rodin facing his monumental silhouette sculpture The Thinker, back-lit by his luminous white marble monument to Victor Hugo. The premium American lithographic printing accurately preserves the rich charcoal blacks, velvety tones, and painterly atmosphere characteristic of early 20th-century fine art photography. The wide lower margin integrates the clean, balanced serif typography of the Metropolitan Museum.
 
About the Artist / Institution
Edward Steichen was a titan of twentieth-century photography, co-founding the Photo-Secession movement with Alfred Stieglitz to champion photography as a fine art. His painterly, layered manipulation of gum bichromate prints redefined photographic aesthetics. The Gilman Paper Company Collection, from which this masterpiece was curated, represents one of the world's most significant private holdings of 19th and early 20th-century photography. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acquired this historic collection in 2005, cementing its status as a premier institution for archival photographic heritage.