Edward Steichen, 1902

In 1960, ter gelegenheid van de grote Rodin-tentoonstelling in het MOMA New York, werd de 81-jarige Edward Steichen geïnterviewd voor de Amerikaanse televisie over zijn vriendschap met Rodin.

Steichen: "My first experience with Rodin, I was till in my teens, in Milwaukee, when I read the story about the Balzac, and that scandal about its refusal, and saw a reproduction of the Balzac. And immediately he became an idol to me, so that when I went to Paris in 1900 when I was 21, the first thing I did was see his exhibition. And of course it grew, the admiration, when I saw the things in reality. And some time later a friend of mine introduced me to Fritz Thaulow, the Norwegian landscape painter, to whom I confided that I wanted to photograph Rodin, and wanted to meet him. So, that same day he and his wife took me out to Meudon, where I saw Rodin for the first time, and told him that the ambition of my life was to photograph him. And I did it with a great deal of enthusiasm and (onverstaanbaar) and than Rodin said 'Frits, see enthusiasm isn't dead yet.'

Interv.: "And that was the beginning of..."

Steichen: He said I could come over whenever I wanted to, and I visited his studio for a whole year frequently before making the picture and finally, when I head something in mind I took my camera down there and made this picture (shows picture on the right)

Interv.: "Which I think is one of the outstanding photographs that was ever made...of Rodins work"

Steichen: "This is the thing that appeals to me the most. And from then on our friendship and relationship grew to the point where he often referred to me as mon fils, my son, and he was certainly the greatest man I ever had the privilege of meeting."

The interview can be found on www.bridgemanimages.com.
Footage number CTA621625