Infrared View of Officers Gathered on the Deck of USS Lexington
Artist
Edward Jean Steichen
(American, 1879-1973)
CultureAmerican
DateNovember, 1943
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 19 3/8 × 23 1/2 in. (49.2 × 59.7 cm)
Overall, Mat: 28 1/8 × 32 1/8 in. (71.4 × 81.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 28 1/8 × 32 1/8 in. (71.4 × 81.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank
Object number2009.7
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a gelatin silver print, printed ca. 1943-46 of officers on the deck of the USS Lexington .Label TextEdward Jean Steichen (American, 1879-1973) Infrared View of Officers Gathered on the Deck of USS Lexington, November 1943 Gelatin-silver print Museum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 2009.7 In November 1943, photographer Edward Steichen boarded the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in Pearl Harbor. He spent the next two months aboard recording every aspect of life on the ship. On December 4, 1943 planes from the Lexington launched a major air assault on the Japanese-held island of Kwajalein. This photograph was taken in the days leading up to that attack. Steichen used infrared film, which is sensitive both to the visible spectrum and to parts of the infrared band, for his negative. Photographs made with such film are highly dramatic; skies are rendered very dark, light-colored objects (clouds, clothing, etc.) are very bright, and atmospheric haze vanishes. The photographer exploited these qualities in this powerful image. The sailors in their white and beige clothing stand out starkly against the sky and the dark shapes of the ship's superstructure. Choosing his moment and cropping his image with great care, Steichen has created a powerfully abstracted composition that simultaneously captures an evocative picture of life at sea. ProvenanceThe artist, 1943; Gift to the Captain of the USS Lexington; Lee Gallery, Winchester, Ma.; Purchased by Chrysler Museum of Art with the Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Photography Fund, 1070 and Horace Goldsmith Foundation Fund, 1080, 2009. Exhibition HistoryAIPAD photography exhibition, New York, New York, 2008. "At the Front," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., August 14, 2009 - January 17, 2010. "Edward Steichen: In Exaltation of Flowers," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, February 23 - November 28, 2021.Published ReferencesChristopher Phillips, _Steichen at War_, ( New York: 1981), illustrated p. 104. Edward Steichen, _The Blue Ghost: A Photographic Log and Personal Narrative of the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Lexington in Combat Operation_, (New York: 1947), illustrated pp. 66-67. Edward Steichen, _Power in the Pacific_, (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1945), illustrated p. 38.
Robert Frederick Read
August 24, 1942
