Its opening exhibition wasSixty Photographs—
curated by Newhall along with the prominent photo-
grapher Ansel Adams who had been lured away
from California by McAlpin. Although small com-
pared to the century-spanning 1839–1937 exhibition,
Sixty Photographssent a clear message that the new
department would not limit itself stylistically but, as
it said in the bulletin, would rather be guided by the
principle that quality in photography works best
through the evocation of ‘‘an epoch by preserving a
moment in the passage of time.’’
Newhall put on an Edward Weston retrospective
in 1946 and a Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition in
1947 with the help of Levy and Kirstein but there
was little he could do that would have surpassed the
founding of the Department or his seminal 1937
exhibition. His job was made more difficult by the
entry of the United States into World War II and his
subsequent call up. While he was on active duty his
wife Nancy kept the Department going, continuing
to raise funds and to put on exhibitions. Towards
the end of the war there was an attempt to change
the focus of photography at MoMA by setting up a
Center of Photography. This was based in a Quon-
set hut in the Museum garden and Willard Morgan,
a close friend of the Newhalls, was brought in as
Director. Overly ambitious, the Center achieved lit-
tle apart from an unsuccessful national snapshot
competition sponsored by Kodak. Morgan soon
departed, leaving Newhall in charge again.
Under Newhall MoMA’s library had been care-
fully systematized. He brought the same care to the
newly-formed Department, which he established as
an independent entity within the Museum. It
acquired holdings and published them, it developed
an unrivalled institutional presence in world photo-
graphy and, for better or for worse, it turned
photography into a museum art. The 229 prints
that the Department began with had already multi-
plied almost ten-fold to over 2,000 by the time
Newhall left. Some of these were gifts from donors
such as Soby, Kirstein, and McAlpin, and the rest
had come through thoughtful accumulation. A
careful curator and expositor, Newhall set consis-
tently high standards over more than 30 exhibi-
tions. A victim of internal politics, he presided
over the Department for a shorter time than any
other person of the twentieth century.
The Department of Photography Under Edward
Steichen, 1947–1962
In 1942, the flamboyant photographer, patriot, and
showman, Edward Steichen, had been asked to
guest-curate an exhibition that became the 1942
Road to War exhibition. It was a collection of
photographs from many sources explaining the
entry of the United States into the War, with texts
by Steichen’s brother-in-law, the poet Carl Sand-
burg. It was a resounding success for the middle-
aged U.S. Lieutenant Commander. After the death
of Alfred Stieglitz in 1946, Steichen was the most
eminent photographer in the nation and one with a
flair for marketing. With the failure of Willard
Morgan and his Center for Photography, Steichen
was linked with another ambitious plan. Without
the Committee on Photography or Newhall having
been consulted, Steichen was asked to take over as
director of photography at MoMA. It was assumed
that Newhall would stay on as a glorified archivist
and historian but instead he immediately stepped
down. Steichen was not able to take up his post for
more than a year, and when he eventually arrived
at MoMA, the activities of the Photography
Department had sputtered to a halt.
During his 15 year tenure Steichen swept the
Department up in his undimming enthusiasm for
the changing face of photography. The exhibitions
moved from the ‘‘classical-historical’’ tendencies of
Newhall to a broader, more populist vision influ-
enced by the burgeoning field of photojournalism.
He presided over the first important bequest of a
collection of photographs to the Department—51
Stieglitz photos donated in 1950 by Georgia
O’Keeffe—as well as devising and curating the
most popular photography exhibition in history—
The Family of Man(1955).
In the aftermath of the war Steichen put together
a series of international portraits to show the diver-
sity and beauty in what he called, in the catalogue,
the ‘‘essential oneness of mankind through the
world.’’ He sifted through 2 million photographs
before making the final selection of 503 prints that
demonstrated a shared humanity scattered through
numerous genres and locales. In the end the prints
came from 68 countries and from 273 different
photographers. The exhibition itself was seen by
over 7 million people worldwide and the catalogue
sold well into the millions. Along with Newhall’s
History of Photographyit was still selling well at the
century’s close.
Steichen had been a founding member of Photo-
Secession and identified with its refined aesthetic but
before he took over the Department of Photography
he had been Chief Photographer at Conde ́Nast as
well as having worked for the Navy and the Army
during the World Wars. His changed sensibility and
relative breadth of interest was reflected in the 1951
exhibitionForgotten Photographers, which reflectedMUSEUM OF MODERN ART OF NEW YORK, THE