When you look at the most famous picture of JP Morgan, you probably see a man who looks like he could buy your soul and then foreclose on it. He’s sitting there, glaring into the lens of Edward Steichen’s camera in 1903. His eyes are like laser beams. His hand is gripping the armrest of his chair so tightly that the light catches the metal, creating a weird optical illusion. It looks exactly like he’s clutching a dagger.
People love that "dagger" story. It fits the Robber Baron narrative perfectly.
But honestly, that legendary photo was kind of an accident. Steichen was only 24 years old when he landed the gig. He wasn't even there to make a masterpiece; he was there because a German painter named Fedor Encke was tired of Morgan fidgeting. Encke basically hired a photographer to "freeze" Morgan so he could finish a painting without the old man jumping out of his skin every five minutes.
What the Picture of JP Morgan Hides (and Shows)
Morgan was a man of intense contradictions. He was arguably the most powerful person in the American economy, yet he was deeply, painfully insecure about his face. He had a skin condition called rosacea, which eventually developed into rhinophyma.
His nose was deformed. It was bulbous, purple, and pockmarked.
🔗 Read more: Why 444 West Lake Chicago Actually Changed the Riverfront Skyline
He absolutely hated it. Because he was so self-conscious, every official picture of JP Morgan you’ve ever seen from that era was heavily retouched. Photographers were basically the original Photoshop masters, using tools to shave down the bridge of his nose and smooth out the skin. If you saw him on the street in 1905, he wouldn't look like the guy on the five-dollar bill's cousin; he’d look like a man with a serious, disfiguring medical condition.
The Steichen Session
Steichen took two photos that day.
- The "Nice" One: Morgan liked this one because it was flattering. It was a standard, boring, corporate-style headshot.
- The "Real" One: This is the iconic shot. Steichen told Morgan to move, and Morgan got annoyed. He shifted his weight, grabbed the chair, and gave Steichen a look that said, "I will end you."
Steichen clicked the shutter.
When Morgan saw the second print, he actually ripped it up. He was furious. He thought it made him look like a monster. It wasn't until years later—after his librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, convinced him it was a work of genius—that he changed his mind. He eventually ordered several prints.
💡 You might also like: Panamanian Balboa to US Dollar Explained: Why Panama Doesn’t Use Its Own Paper Money
Why He Smashed Cameras
If you think modern celebrities are aggressive with paparazzi, you haven't seen anything. Morgan didn't just dodge the press. He attacked them.
There’s a famous, less-posed picture of JP Morgan from May 11, 1910. In it, you can see a man—likely a bodyguard—holding the 73-year-old banker back. Why? Because Morgan was trying to beat a photographer named George Grantham Bain with his cane. He was swinging it like a club.
He felt that a candid photograph was a violation. He couldn't control the lighting. He couldn't control the retouching. To Morgan, a raw photo was a direct threat to his carefully managed public image. He once said his nose was "part of the American business structure," but he still didn't want you looking at it too closely.
- The "Dagger" Illusion: The "knife" in the Steichen photo is actually just the chrome trim of the chair.
- Retouching: Almost every professional portrait from the late 19th century was edited to hide his rosacea.
- The Glare: That famous stare wasn't meant to be "powerful"; he was just genuinely pissed off at the photographer for taking too long.
The Cultural Impact of the Image
The image has become the definitive visual for the Gilded Age. It’s why the Monopoly man looks the way he does. It’s why we associate "banker" with "stern man in a three-piece suit."
📖 Related: Walmart Distribution Red Bluff CA: What It’s Actually Like Working There Right Now
What most people get wrong is thinking Morgan was trying to look intimidating. He was just a man in a lot of physical pain—he suffered from rheumatic fever and seizures as a kid—who wanted to get back to work. He didn't have time for "art." He just wanted the session to be over.
Actually, the tension in that photo is what makes it great. If Steichen had captured a happy, smiling Morgan, we wouldn't remember it today. We remember the man who looks like he's about to stab the camera because that's the man who consolidated the railroads and bailed out the U.S. Treasury.
Seeing the Real Morgan
If you want to see what he actually looked like, you have to find the "unauthorized" shots. There are a few candid glass-plate negatives in the Library of Congress that show the true extent of his rhinophyma. They are jarring. You realize that his legendary "piercing gaze" was likely a defense mechanism. He stared people down so they wouldn't dare look at his nose.
It’s a reminder that even the most powerful person in the world has something they’re trying to hide.
To truly understand the history behind the picture of JP Morgan, you should visit the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. They house the original Steichen prints and some of the personal correspondence regarding his portraits. Reading the letters from his associates—who often warned people never to mention his nose—adds a layer of humanity to the "Robber Baron" myth that you just can't get from a textbook.
Check out the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress online. It's the best way to see the "unfiltered" Gilded Age and the man who tried to beat it into submission with a walking stick.