Narcissus, 1901

This image is one of several nudes that Steichen made in Paris during this time, including his famous In Memoriam. In none of the images is the face of the model visible, due to the fact that, according to Steichen, even professional models at this time insisted that their faces not be shown. These sensual, mostly dark images were printed either with pigment or in platinum and are each meditative, intimate studies both of the female form and of delicate tonal shifts in the photographic image.

The print offered in the present lot, originally in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, is one of only two known prints of the image. Both are printed in platinum.