Steichen created Le Tournesol (The Sunflower) in the years after World War I, when he painted, photographed, and gardened at his home in Voulangis, France. He was an enthusiastic gardener, breeding new varieties of delphinium and raising sunflowers and other magnificent blooms. In 1920 he... [https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/le-tournesol-the-sunflower-by-edward-steichen.html#slide_2] "Steichen is painting flowers near Paris and says if he keeps on some day he may do something worth looking at...." Poet Carl Sandburg, Edward Steichen's brother-in-law. [https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/le-tournesol-the-sunflower-by-edward-steichen.html] Edward Steichen destroyed nearly all his paintings before dedicating himself to photography. The Sunflower was exhibited in Paris shortly after it was painted in 1922 and has not been seen in Europe since then. [http://arthistorynewsreport.blogspot.nl/search?updated-max=2018-01-06T10:27:00-08:00&max-results=7&start=11&by-date=false]