Overview
The 1955 Exhibition
This article is pending research. A Phase 1 investigation will populate it.
Opening
The exhibition opened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on 24 January 1955. It was the culmination of nearly three years of work by Edward Steichen, then Director of MoMA’s Department of Photography.
Installation
The galleries were designed by architect Paul Rudolph.
Catalog and prologue
The exhibition was accompanied by a catalog published by MoMA, with a prologue by Carl Sandburg (Steichen’s brother-in-law).
The author of the exhibition
For Steichen’s life — birth in Bivange, the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, the 1963 White House meeting with Grand Duchess Charlotte, and the 1964 donation of the exhibition to Luxembourg — see the Steichen memorial.
Reception
See the Reception article.
Perspective note
The exhibition's curatorial framing — that photographs can document "the essential oneness of mankind" — has been the subject of sustained critique since Roland Barthes' 1957 essay "The Great Family of Man." Any summary here must acknowledge both the show's self-presentation and its critical reception.