Today, we take a look at The Flatiron by Edward Steichen. The picture was made in 1904. The Flatiron building was completed in 1902 and it had a peculiar allure for the Photo-Secessionist group. Steichen took his picture the year after Alfred Stieglitz photographed the building.

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Steichen’s photograph has the distinction of being the second most expensive photograph ever sold.  It was assessed at two or three million and it was sold by Christie’s for $11,800,000 in November 2022.
I would rather have a print of a really famous work of art than the actual piece. How’s that for a pedestrian take? I do love original artwork and I own a few pieces.  But it’s not priceless yet..  Owning a famous piece of art isn’t appealing.
Let’s say you bought the Mona Lisa— maybe the most famous painting in the world. Even though you bought it and you have the option to put it in a room and never look at it or let anyone else look at it, you still have a responsibility to the world to care for it and be a good custodian of it. Beautiful art and architecture can be bought and owned but all humanity has a stake in it.
If you purchased the Mona Lisa, you would have to control the lighting, temperature, and humidity; to have a sprinkler system in case of fire; to install a an alarm to protect it from thieves, et cetera.  If you just purchase a framed print of the Mona Lisa, you don’t owe it to humanity to control the humidity in your house.
I can understand why someone might want to own a famous painting. I don’t understand why anyone would spend nearly $12 million to own a famous photograph . I like The Flatiron a lot but even if I had and could easily spare $12 million, I wouldn’t buy it because I wouldn’t want to be responsible for it. It’s too small to display prominently on a wall 18 13/16  x 15 1/8 in. (47.8 x 38.4 cm) It would probably live in a desk drawer.