By descent in the artist's family to the present owner

New York, Montross Gallery, January 1910
New York, 291 Gallery, The Younger American Painters, March-April 1910 

James Huneker, New York Sun, January 23, 1910
Jonathan Greed, ed., Camera Work: A Critical Anthology, Millerton, New York, 1973, p. 239
William Innes Homer, "Eduard Steichen as Painter and Photographer, 1897-1908," American Art Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, November 1974, p. 54
Penelope Niven, Steichen: A Biography, New York, 1997, p. 331

This work is in very good condition. The canvas is lined. There are a few pindots of paint loss at the lower left, upper left and upper center areas of the canvas. Under UV: There are two areas of inpainting in the edge of the screen at lower and upper left.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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In 1906 Edward Steichen returned to Paris, where he was introduced to Michael, Leo and Gertrude Stein, a family of American expatriates whose homes became vibrant hubs for avant-garde artists and writers in the first years of the 20^th century. Through the Steins, Steichen gained exposure to the work of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, both of whom frequented the siblings’ salons. Steichen immediately responded to Matisse’s innovative use of color and began to shift away from the tonalist style that characterized his earlier work, embracing brighter and more expressive pigments and adopting a more controlled execution.

Painted in 1909, The Lotus Screen, S.S.S. depicts Alfred Stieglitz’s youngest sister Selma Stieglitz Schubart. Steichen was close to Stieglitz both personally and professionally, as the two artists shared a desire to promote photography as an art form equal to painting and sculpture. The Lotus Screen, S.S.S was exhibited at Stieglitz’s famed 291 and at the Montross Gallery in the spring of 1910, where critics reacted positively to the painting’s Matisse-like palette and the direct intensity of the subject’s gaze: “The woman of exotic beauty…still gazes at one across as she lounges in a chair,” wrote James Huneker of the New York Sun. “She has disquieting eyes…Mr. Steichen is to be congratulated” (Penelope Niven, Steichen: A Biography, New York, 1997, p. 331).

Steichen reproduced the painting as a gravure in 1913, and it appeared in the June issue of Camera Work, the photographic journal edited and published by Steiglitz. While previously Steichen had worked in photography and painting simultaneously, in 1923 he declared himself “through” with the latter medium and began to devote all of his efforts to photography. He destroyed all of the canvases stored in his studio, burning them in the garden of his home on the outskirts of Paris.