Montée du Château
Clervaux, Diekirch

A visit to The Family of Man exhibition is a highly intense experience. Perfectly staged, skilfully lit, it is an understated total artwork that appears to have grown naturally. What should a portrait of humanity look like? Every visit reveals something new. Read “The Family of Man – a personal experience" in Luci magazine.

Montée du Château
Clervaux, Diekirch

The exhibition started in the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), then toured the world several times. It was a tremendous success, drawing more than nine million visitors in the 1950s and 1960s. It is Edward Steichen's wish that "the most important work of his life" should be permanently housed in Luxembourg, and it has been in Clervaux Castle since 1994.

Montée du Château
Clervaux, Diekirch

The exhibition goes through the cycle of life. Childhood with or without schooling, hard work, but also parties and friendship, love and sexuality, faith, struggles and wars – every aspect of what it is to be human is shown here. Edward Steichen brought these people together, regardless of their race, gender or class. Through the photographs, he wanted to find a common language.

Montée du Château
Clervaux, Diekirch

Some of the photographs were taken by well-known photographers of their time, others by amateurs. Edward Steichen’s friend Dorothea helped him to find the right ones. Out of millions of pictures, they and their assistants selected just over 500 photographs from 68 countries, and civil rights activist Dorothy Norman compiled the accompanying quotations from world literature and contemporary documents.

Montée du Château
Clervaux, Diekirch

The Family of Man is regarded as the “greatest photographic enterprise ever undertaken". Discover why this evocative collection curated by Luxembourg-American Edward Steichen is a legend in the history of photography and explore the restored 12th century Clervaux Castle at the same time! What will your personal experience be like?