In Exaltation of Flowers, 1910–1913, tempera and gold leaf on canvas, seven panels: two canvases: 120 × 100 in., five canvases: 120 × 55 in. Framed by Gill & Lagodich for Art Bridges. Custom-made frames, adaptations of Joseph Urban-designed frame molding for Thomas Hart Benton, “America Today” murals, patinated burnished black Japan finish on stained milled wood, molding width 3-5/8 in. “American photographer Edward Steichen was also a painter of rare talent. From 1911 to 1914, he produced a mural for the Park Avenue townhouse of Eugene Meyer and his wife Agnes Ernest Meyer. Rendered in a cool tempera palette and dazzling gold leaf, the mural celebrates the couple and their circle of cultural sophisticates. The depicted figures include art patron Charles Lang Freer, the soprano Mercedes de Cordoba, the artists Katharine Rhoades and Marion Beckett, and the dancer Isadora Duncan. Steichen bred flowers in the garden of his French country house, and had a precise understanding of botanical forms. In Exaltation of Flowers was partially inspired by Maurice Maeterlinck’s 1907 book The Intelligence of Flowers, and each of Steichen’s subjects is paired with a flower thought to echo their character. The style of the mural is distinctive, exhibiting costumes and poses that mirror Steichen’s foundational fashion photography, while merging portraiture with aspects of Art Nouveau and Symbolist painting.” —Art Bridges didactic label. Credit Line: Art Bridges AB.2016.2

Boca Raton Museum of Art Assistant Curator Kelli Bodle describes the exhibition, Edward Steichen: In Exaltation of Flowers with Duane Smith. This exhibition is made possible with the support of Art Bridges, our Leadership Donors, Fiduciary Trust International, and Neiman Marcus.