The Family of Man

The Family of Man was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art's department of photography. According to Steichen, the exhibition represented the "culmination of his career". The title was taken from a line in a Carl Sandburg poem.
The Family of Man was exhibited in 1955 from January 24 to May 8 at the New York MoMA, then toured the world for eight years to record-breaking audience numbers. Commenting on its appeal, Steichen said, "The people in the audience looked at the pictures, and the people in the pictures looked back at them. They recognized each other." The physical collection is archived and displayed at Clervaux Castle in Edward Steichen's home country of Luxembourg, where he was born in 1879 in Bivange. It was first exhibited there in 1994 after restoration of the prints.
In 2003, the Family of Man photographic collection was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in recognition of its historical value.

Tours

United States

1955, 24 January – 8 May: Museum of Modern Art
1955, 22 June – 4 September: Minneapolis Institute of Art
1955, 7 October – 4 December: Dallas Museum of Art
1956, 24 January – 4 March: Cleveland Museum of Art
1956, 29 April – 20 May: Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
1956, 25 May – 15 July: Baltimore Museum of Art
1956, 4–25 June: Saint Louis Art Museum
1956, July: Corning Museum of Glass
1956, 9–30 July: George Eastman Museum
1956, 3–30 October: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
World tour

As part of the Museum of Modern Art's International Program, the exhibition The Family of Man toured the world, making stops in thirty-seven countries on six continents. More than 10 million people viewed the exhibit, which is in excess of the largest audience for any other photographic exhibition. The photographs in the exhibition focused on the commonalities that bind people and cultures around the world, the exhibition serving as an expression of humanism in the decade following World War II.
The recently formed United States Information Agency was instrumental in touring the photographs throughout the world in five different versions for seven years, under the auspices of the Museum of Modern Art International Program. Notably, it was not shown in Franco's Spain, in Vietnam, nor in China.

First European tour

Copy 1 was organized by Edward Steichen. Duplication, with minor changes, of the exhibition presented at MoMA, January 24May 8, 1955 and subsequently circulated in the United States. Commissioned by the USIA for circulation in Europe. It was shown in:

Germany	Berlin, Hochschule fur Bildende Kunst, Sept 17Oct 9, 1955
Germany	Munich, Municipal Lenbach Gallery, Nov 19Dec 18, 1955
Germany	Hamburg
Germany	Hanover
Germany	Frankfurt, Haus des Deutschen Kunsthandwerks, Oct 25Nov 30, 1958
France	Paris, Musee National d'Art Moderne, Jan 20Feb 26, 1956
Netherlands	Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, March 23April 29, 1956
Netherlands	Rotterdam, Floriade, May–Aug 1960
Belgium	Brussels, Palais de Beaux Arts, May 23July 1, 1956
England	London, Royal Festival Hall, Aug 1–30, 1956
Italy	Rome, Palazzo Venezia
Italy	Milan, Villa Communale
Yugoslavia	Belgrade, Kalamegdan Pavilion, Jan 25Feb 22, 1957
Austria	Vienna, Kunstlerhaus, March 30April 28, 1957
Denmark	Aarhus
Denmark	Aalborg
Denmark	Odense
Greece	Athens
Finland	Helsinki Taidehall

Central America, India, Africa, Middle East

Copy 2, a duplicate of Copy 1 was commissioned by the USIA, circulated 1955–1963 and dispersed in 1963. It was shown in:

Guatemala	Guatemala City, Palacio de Protocolo, Aug 24Sept 18, 1955
Mexico	Mexico City, La Fragua- Conference of Central American States, Oct 21Nov 20, 1955
India	Bombay, Jehangir Art Gallery, June 18July 15, 1956, ext. July 20
India	Agra, University of Agra Library, Aug 31Sept 19, 1956
India	New Delhi, Industries Fair Grounds-IX Session of General Conference of UNESCO, Nov–Dec 5, 1956
India	Ahmedabad, Cultural Center, Jan 11Feb 1, 1957
India	Calcutta, Ranji Stadium, March–April, 1957
India	Madras, Madras University, June 10July 21, 1957
India	Trivandurum, Sept 1–22, 1957
South Korea	Seoul
Southern Rhodesia	Salisbury, Rhodes National Gallery, March–April, 1958
Union of South Africa	Johannesburg, Gov't Pavilion-Rand Spring Show, Aug 30Sept 13, 1958
Union of South Africa	Cape Town
Union of South Africa	Durban, Nov 11–25, 1958
Union of South Africa	Pretoria, Jan 1959 Windhoek Port Elizabeth Uitenboge
Kenya	Nairobi, Oct 1959
United Arab Republic	Cairo, Dec 1960
United Arab Republic	Alexandria, Nov 1960
United Arab Republic	Damascus
Afghanistan	Kabul
Iran	Tehran

Second European tour

Copy 3, a duplicate of Copy 1 commissioned by the USIA. Circulated 1957–1965 and at Steichen's request, this version of the exhibition was presented to the Government of Luxembourg for permanent display at Common Market Headquarters, Luxembourg, 1965. Previously, it was shown in:

Norway	Oslo, Museum of Applied Arts, Jan 15Feb 10, 1957
Sweden	Stockholm, Lilijevalchs Konsthall, March 22April 7, 1957
Sweden	Gothenburg, Svenska Massan/Gothenborg Fair, June 8–23, 1957
Sweden	Halsingborg, Halsinborg Exposition, Jul 12Aug 18, 1957
Iceland	Reykjavík, Sept–Oct, 1957
Denmark	Copenhagen, Charlottenborg Gallery, Nov 22Dec 26, 1957
Switzerland	Zürich, Museum of Design, Jan 25 – March 2, 1958
Switzerland	Basel, Kunsthalle, March 8 – April 16, 1958
Switzerland	Geneva, Musee Rath, April 16 – May 1958
Switzerland	St. Gallen, Aug–Sep, 1958 Bern, Jun–Aug, 1958
Yugoslavia	Zagreb, Oct–Nov, 1958
Italy	Milan, Villa Communale, Jan–Feb, 1959
Italy	Turin
Italy	Florence
Poland	Warsaw, National Theatre, Sept 18 – Oct 21, 1959
Poland	Wrocław, Museum of Slask, Nov 8 – Dec 27, 1959
Poland	Wałbrzych, Jan 1 – Feb 7, 1960
Poland	Jelenia Góra, Feb 14–28, 1960
Poland	Kraków, March 1–15, 1960
Poland	Poznań, April 9 – May 1, 1960
Poland	Dąbrowa Górnicza, May 10–31, 1960
Belgium	Ghent
Luxembourg	Musee de l'Etat, July 23, 1966

South America, Australia and South-East Asia

Copy 4, a duplicate of Copy 1. Commissioned by the U.S.I.A. Circulated 1957–62. Dispersed 1962. It was shown in:

Cuba	Havana, Museo Nacional Palacio de Belas Artes, March 6 – April, 1957
Venezuela	Caracas, University of Caracas, July 5–30, 1957
Colombia	Bogotá, Oct–Dec, 1957
Chile	Santiago, University of Chile, Jan–Feb, 1958
Uruguay	Montevideo, April 12–27, 1958
Australia	Melbourne, Preston Motors Show Room, opened February 23, 1959
Australia	Sydney, David Jones department store, opened April 6, 1959
Australia	Brisbane, John Hicks Showrooms, May 18 – June 13, 1959
Australia	Adelaide, Myer Emporium, June 29 – July 31, 1959
Laos	Bientani, That Luang National shrine – That Luang Festival
Indonesia	Jakarta

Middle East

A revised version of the original shown at MoMA 1955. Circulated in the United States, 1957–59, then acquired by the USIA for circulation abroad, and shown in Tel Aviv, Israel and Beirut, Lebanon

Soviet Union

Copy 5: Following a bilateral agreement between the US and USSR, in 1959 the American National Exhibition was to be held in Moscow and the Soviets were to have had the use of New York City's Coliseum. This Moscow trade fair at Sokolniki Park was the scene of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and United States Vice President Richard Nixon's 'Kitchen Debate' over the relative merits of communism and capitalism.
The Family of Man was a late inclusion that had not been originally envisaged in MoMA's itinerary. With a grant to the Museum of $15,000 and funding from the plastics industry for the radical pre-fabricated translucent pavilion design to house it, a fifth copy of the show was salvaged from what was left of the Beirut and Scandinavia showings, augmented with new prints.
In Moscow, in the context of a trade show 'supermarket' meant to demonstrate lavish consumerism, and a multimedia display assembled by Charles Eames, the collection's overtones of peace and human brotherhood symbolized a lifting of the imminent threat of an atomic war for Soviet citizens in the midst of the Cold War. This meaning seemed to be grasped especially by Soviet students and intellectuals. Recognising the importance of the Moscow exhibition as "the high spot of the project", Steichen attended its opening and made copious photographs of the event.