ROCHESTER, NY.- Visitors to the George Eastman Museum have the opportunity to experience Edward Steichen and the Garden, on view from March 27 to September 6, 2026. The exhibition explores how Edward Steichen’s (1879–1973) immersive relationship with gardening and nature shaped his photographic vision, revealing a creative evolution central to his enduring legacy.

Over a professional life spanning seven decades, Steichen established himself as one of the most important figures in the history of photography. What is less known is that for much of that time he also devoted himself to the nurturing of plants and gardens. Horticulture was an activity that sustained him, and through which he developed ardently held beliefs regarding the interrelationship of creativity, nature, and art.

Steichen’s creative evolution was tightly bound to his spiritual engagement with nature as well as his more pragmatic explorations of plant genetics and hybridization. Through his development of original varieties of the genus Delphinium, Steichen argued and demonstrated that plant breeding was a creative art form. His results as a horticulturalist were so exquisite that they were famously exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1936, which led to him being considered the greatest delphinium breeder in the United States by the international horticultural community.

“Initially, as a gardener myself, I was curious to uncover the full story of Steichen as a horticulturist because I recognized certain behaviors in Steichen that are particular to gardeners,” said Sarah Anne McNear, author and exhibition curator. “What I had not anticipated was how one activity—plant breeding—was intricately entwined with his visual art practice. That’s when I knew I had a story to tell.”

“The Eastman Museum has been the proud recipient of several major donations from Steichen’s estate and relatives, which constitute impressive holdings of photographs and archival materials now held in our Department of Photography and Library Special Collections. Our commitment to Steichen’s work and legacy made the museum a natural partner in this project,” said Bruce Barnes, Ron and Donna Fielding Director of the Eastman Museum. “Additionally, Steichen’s passion for horticulture is parallel to George Eastman’s own passion for gardening, creating an additional connection for our audiences.”

The objects from the Eastman Museum are presented alongside significant loans from public and private collections, including Art Bridges, the Block Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection, and the Sheldon Museum of Art. Together, the objects represent Steichen's lifelong engagement with the garden through his work as a photographer, painter, and plant breeder.