Source
Press release: The Family of Man (book publication, June 21, 1955)
Citation
Museum of Modern Art. “The Family of Man” [press release announcing publication of the book editions]. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, June 21, 1955. 2 pp. Available in MoMA’s public press archive PDF.
Relevance
An archival Tier-1 document issued by MoMA on the opening date of the U.S. national tour. Confirms catalog bibliographic details (two editions, page counts, publishers, layout designer), the closing sentence of Sandburg’s prologue, a substantive excerpt from Steichen’s catalog introduction, the U.S. tour schedule (Minneapolis → Dallas → Cleveland → Philadelphia → Baltimore → Pittsburgh, June 1955 – Nov. 1956), the existence of an international edition going to the USIA, and the 270,000+ attendance figure at MoMA for the original run.
Key excerpts / pages
- p. 1: “A deluxe edition, published by Simon and Schuster in collaboration with Maco Magazine Corporation for the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Boards, boxed, 226 pages, more than 500 photographs from 68 countries, including portfolio of installation pictures of the exhibition ‘The Family of Man’ in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Prologue by Carl Sandburg, introduction by Edward Steichen. 8 1/2 x 11”. $10”
- p. 1: “paper edition, published by the Maco Magazine Corporation for the Museum of Modern Art. Stiff paper cover printed in four colors. More than 500 photographs from 68 countries. 192 pages. Prologue by Carl Sandburg, introduction by Edward Steichen 8 1/2 x 11”. $1”
- p. 2: “Carl Sandburg’s prologue, which was distributed to visitors to the exhibition, is reprinted in full in both books. It concludes ‘A camera testament, a drama of the grand canyon of humanity, an epic woven of fun, mystery and holiness – here is the Family of Man.’”
- p. 2 (Steichen, introduction, as excerpted): “The exhibition, now permanently presented on the pages of this book, demonstrates that the art of photography is a dynamic process of giving form to ideas and of explaining man to man. It was conceived as a mirror of the universal elements and emotions in the everydayness of life – as a mirror of the essential oneness of mankind throughout the world.”
- p. 2: “The books also contain the quotations from world literature used as wall captions in the exhibition. Leo Lionni, well-known art director and artist, designed the layout for both books which were printed by R.R. Donnelley and Sons.”
- p. 2 (tour schedule table): Minneapolis Institute of Art, Jun 21 – Sept 4, 1955; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Oct 7 – Nov 18, 1955; Cleveland Museum of Art, Jan 24 – March 5, 1956; Philadelphia Museum of Art, March 25 – April 29, 1956; Baltimore Museum of Art, May 30 – July 15, 1956 (approx.); Carnegie Institute (Pittsburgh), Oct 18 – Nov 29, 1956. International edition at the Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C., June 30 – July 31, 1955.
Notes
- Use this source for anything claimed about the catalog’s bibliographic structure, the exhibition’s attendance at MoMA, or the initial U.S. tour schedule.
- Not a source for the internal thematic sectioning of the exhibition: the press release doesn’t enumerate sections. For sectioning claims, the catalog itself and Sandeen 1995 are primary.
- Perspective: institutional / curatorial (MoMA’s own framing).