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Lot Essay
In his his largest and most successful Impressionist works such as Spring at Point Pleasant on the Delaware River, Edward Willis Redfield portrays the beauty of the Pennsylvania landscape with a dashing style and skillful treatment of light and color that are the hallmarks of his celebrated style.
Edward Willis Redfield's Impressionist canvases rank among the best produced by a group of Pennsylvania artists, popularly called the New Hope School. Like many of his contemporaries of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Redfield studied extensively at some of the finest art schools in the world. Following his training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Anschutz, Redfield traveled to Paris to receive further training at the Academie Julian in the late 1880s or early 90s. It was during these years that Redfield traveled to the French countryside accompanied by Robert Henri, an old friend from his days at the Pennsylvania Academy. There, in the forest of Fontainebleau he began painting en plein air in the cold of winter, commencing a life-long preference for painting outdoors.
Redfield's experiences in the French country inspired in him a new interest in landscape painting, as well as a new approach to painting. 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." (as quoted in 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)
This bright, Impressionist palette and spontaneity of paint surface that Redfield developed abroad is clearly evident in Spring at Point Pleasant on the Delaware River. Thick strokes of paint have been quickly yet adeptly applied to the canvas. Viscous dashes of verdant green grass and trees and white buds enliven the composition with the arrival of spring. Contrasting horizontal and vertical touches of paint emphasize the vitality of the scene and reinforce his main subject, the renewal of seasons.
Underscoring this essence of a spontaneous landscape is a thoughtfully rendered composition. The horizontal layers from the clearing in the foreground upwards to the open sky in the background contribute to an overall depth and dynamism to the composition. Redfield then introduces the presence of strong vertical lines with both bare and budding trees running across the width of the scene, which result in pushing the vertical expanse of the canvas. The extension of the vertical space created by the trees, contrasted with the diagonal and horizontal lines, culminates in an expansive valley scene that is a hallmark of Redfield's most powerful imagery.
So adept was Redfield at applying Impressionist techniques, one critic remarked: "Among the men who have done the most to infuse an authentic note of nationalism into contemporary American Art, Edward Redfield occupies a prominent position. He is the standard bearer of that progressive group of painters who are glorifying American landscape painting with a veracity and force that is astonishing the eyes of the Old World." (as quoted in J.N. Lauvrik, Edward Redfield, p. 29)
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Edward Redfield's work being compiled by Dr. Thomas Folk.
Edward Willis Redfield's Impressionist canvases rank among the best produced by a group of Pennsylvania artists, popularly called the New Hope School. Like many of his contemporaries of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Redfield studied extensively at some of the finest art schools in the world. Following his training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Anschutz, Redfield traveled to Paris to receive further training at the Academie Julian in the late 1880s or early 90s. It was during these years that Redfield traveled to the French countryside accompanied by Robert Henri, an old friend from his days at the Pennsylvania Academy. There, in the forest of Fontainebleau he began painting en plein air in the cold of winter, commencing a life-long preference for painting outdoors.
Redfield's experiences in the French country inspired in him a new interest in landscape painting, as well as a new approach to painting. 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." (as quoted in 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)
This bright, Impressionist palette and spontaneity of paint surface that Redfield developed abroad is clearly evident in Spring at Point Pleasant on the Delaware River. Thick strokes of paint have been quickly yet adeptly applied to the canvas. Viscous dashes of verdant green grass and trees and white buds enliven the composition with the arrival of spring. Contrasting horizontal and vertical touches of paint emphasize the vitality of the scene and reinforce his main subject, the renewal of seasons.
Underscoring this essence of a spontaneous landscape is a thoughtfully rendered composition. The horizontal layers from the clearing in the foreground upwards to the open sky in the background contribute to an overall depth and dynamism to the composition. Redfield then introduces the presence of strong vertical lines with both bare and budding trees running across the width of the scene, which result in pushing the vertical expanse of the canvas. The extension of the vertical space created by the trees, contrasted with the diagonal and horizontal lines, culminates in an expansive valley scene that is a hallmark of Redfield's most powerful imagery.
So adept was Redfield at applying Impressionist techniques, one critic remarked: "Among the men who have done the most to infuse an authentic note of nationalism into contemporary American Art, Edward Redfield occupies a prominent position. He is the standard bearer of that progressive group of painters who are glorifying American landscape painting with a veracity and force that is astonishing the eyes of the Old World." (as quoted in J.N. Lauvrik, Edward Redfield, p. 29)
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Edward Redfield's work being compiled by Dr. Thomas Folk.