The Family of Man [CNA Steichen Collections institutional history page]
Citation
Centre national de l’audiovisuel (CNA). “The Family of Man.” Steichen Collections — CNA. Accessed 30 April 2026. https://www.steichencollections-cna.lu/eng/collections/1_the-family-of-man
Tier justification
Tier 1: The CNA (Centre national de l’audiovisuel) is the custodial institution for the Steichen Collections in Luxembourg, explicitly named in CREDIBILITY.md under Tier 1 (“CNA Luxembourg — steichencollections.lu, cna.public.lu”). This institutional history page summarises the official record of the exhibition’s creation, world tour, and permanent installation at Clervaux Castle.
Relevance
The CNA’s institutional history of The Family of Man provides the authoritative timeline for the Luxembourg chapter of the exhibition’s history, including the USIA donation (1964–1966), Steichen’s expressed wish for Clervaux Castle as permanent home, the partial installation (1974–1989), the restoration and permanent installation (1994), and UNESCO listing (2003). As the custodial institution, the CNA’s summary represents the institutional record.
Key excerpts / pages
Fetched 2026-04-30 at https://www.steichencollections-cna.lu/eng/collections/1_the-family-of-man. The following are exact quotes or close paraphrases from the returned content:
- “The Family of Man comprises 503 photographs by 273 artists from 68 countries and was created by Edward Steichen for the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).”
- The collection “was presented for the first time in 1955” and “was seen by 10 million people throughout the world” between 1955 and 1962 [note: the page uses 1955–1962 for the touring period, though Copy 3 ran to 1965].
- 1964–1966 period: “the US Government donates the last complete version of the travelling exhibition to Luxembourg.”
- 1964–1966 period: “Edward Steichen visits his native country and expresses his wish for The Family of Man to be exhibited permanently at Clervaux Castle.”
- 1974–1989: “A partial exhibition ran” at Clervaux Castle.
- 1994: “establishment of the collection as a permanent exhibition at Clervaux Castle.”
- 2003: “the collection was listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register.”
Notes
- Marked
verified: truebecause the page was successfully fetched in this session (2026-04-30) and the quoted content was returned directly. - The page presents the 1964–1966 USIA donation as a single bracketed period rather than a precise year. Wikipedia’s Family of Man article (fetched 2026-04-30) specifies Copy 3 was presented to Luxembourg in 1965. The CNA’s “1964–1966” window is used here as the authoritative institutional statement; the 1965 specificity is cross-referenced in
src-usia-fom-copy3-luxembourg-1965. -
Cross-references:
src-usia-fom-copy3-luxembourg-1965,src-steichen-1966-luxembourg-visit,src-usia-fom-tour-wind-down. - Institutional-voice caveat. The CNA is the custodial institution for the Luxembourg collection; its timeline necessarily presents the donation, Steichen’s selection of Clervaux, and the UNESCO listing in a celebratory institutional register. This entry is Tier 1 for the fact of the institutional record but should not be read as a neutral interpretive frame. For critical/contextual readings see
src-turner-2013,src-stimson-2006,src-sekula-1981,src-back-schmidt-linsenhoff-2004.