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Lot Essay
In his most successful Impressionist works such as Spring at Point Pleasant, Edward Willis Redfield portrays the beauty of the Pennsylvania landscape with a skillful and subtle treatment of light and color that is the hallmark of his celebrated style.
Like many of his contemporaries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Redfield studied extensively at some of the finest art schools in the world. After his early training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Anschutz, Redfield went to Paris to receive further training at the Académie Julian in the late 1880s or early 90s. Accompanied by Robert Henri, and old friend from his days at the Pennsylvania Academy, Redfield travelled from Paris to the French countryside and the forest of Fountainbleau where he painting en plein air in the cold of winter.
Redfield's impressive experiences in the French country provided him with a new interest in landscape painting, as well as a new approach to painting that would last a lifetime. It was during these early years that he established his niche as a "one go" artist, saying "I go into the field with my 50 pounds of equipment and a 50 x 56 canvas, and do not leave until I have completed my work." (J.M.W. Fletcher, Edward Willis Redfield 1869-1965: An American Impressionist, His Paintings and the Man Behind the Palette, Lahaska, Pennsylvania, 1996, p. 1)
Throughout his career, Redfield loved to paint nature at the heart of a season, whether it be winter, spring, fall or summer. Spring at Point Pleasant captures the freshness and vitality of a gorgeous spring day in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where Redfield acquired his subject matter for sixty-five years.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Edward Redfield's work being compiled by Dr. Thomas Folk.
Like many of his contemporaries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Redfield studied extensively at some of the finest art schools in the world. After his early training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Anschutz, Redfield went to Paris to receive further training at the Académie Julian in the late 1880s or early 90s. Accompanied by Robert Henri, and old friend from his days at the Pennsylvania Academy, Redfield travelled from Paris to the French countryside and the forest of Fountainbleau where he painting en plein air in the cold of winter.
Redfield's impressive experiences in the French country provided him with a new interest in landscape painting, as well as a new approach to painting that would last a lifetime. It was during these early years that he established his niche as a "one go" artist, saying "I go into the field with my 50 pounds of equipment and a 50 x 56 canvas, and do not leave until I have completed my work." (J.M.W. Fletcher, Edward Willis Redfield 1869-1965: An American Impressionist, His Paintings and the Man Behind the Palette, Lahaska, Pennsylvania, 1996, p. 1)
Throughout his career, Redfield loved to paint nature at the heart of a season, whether it be winter, spring, fall or summer. Spring at Point Pleasant captures the freshness and vitality of a gorgeous spring day in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where Redfield acquired his subject matter for sixty-five years.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Edward Redfield's work being compiled by Dr. Thomas Folk.