In 1898, Redfield and his family moved to Center Bridge, Pennsylvania, and he began to concentrate on painting local snow sceÿnes. Unlike the generally small more sentimental snow scenes of 19th century artists, Dr. Thomas Folk observes that Redfield executed his paintings "at one go," or in one session, painting canvases as large as The Grey Veil outdoors. The artist himself stated, "When I first began to work, most artists used models in studios. What I wanted to do was to go outdoors and capture the look of a scene, whether it was a brook or bridge, as it looked on a certain day." (Redfield, Sunday Bulletin Magazine, Aug. 4, 1963, p.8) According to Folk, Redfield often painted under such brutal weather conditions that he had to anchor his easel to trees and had to use a substantial amount of linseed oil in order to keep his paint malleable.

Since The Grey Veil was first exhibited in 1911, it was most likely painted near his home in the winter of 1910 or 1911. This scene features the Delaware River and hills of New Jersey through a misty snow, hence the title. Upon its exhibition at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, a critic wrote:

Edward W. Redfield has produced a masterpiece
in the superb work called The Grey Veil, which
holds one of the places of honor in this exhibition.
It also had a most important hanging in the recent
exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts. This picture should never be allowed to leave
Buffalo. It is one of Mr. Redfield's most important
works, and has all his strength of technique, with an
exquisite refinement. It is a masterpiece.

This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Edward Redfield's work being compiled by Dr. Thomas Folk.