Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) was an American financier, political figure, and publisher of the Washington Post from 1933 to 1946. Edward Steichen met Eugene Meyer in 1909, when he visited his wife-to-be Agnes Ernst in Paris. Steichen and the Meyers became close, lifelong friends. Edward Steichen portrayed his friend for the May 1932 issue of Vanity Fair. Similar to his other portraits of powerful men, Steichen portrays Meyer seated, facing the camera directly, avoiding anything that could take the beholder’s attention away from his subject.