Mount Washington, Massachusetts, July 22, 1890

About the Artwork

At the turn of the 20th century, Redfield was a leading proponent of staging simple genre scenes outdoors, instead of being limited to a studio setting. Here, the Philadelphia-born photographer carefully positioned three children in the foreground of this picturesque landscape dominated by a split-rail and stone fence. The print features his interests in clarity and fidelity and atmospheric effects. In this rural scene, he used the warm, delicate tonal range of a platinum print to render subtle variations and nuances of light. For two decades around 1900, Redfield was a leading advocate of photography as fine art and was one of the founders of the Photo-Secession. He sought to convince an audience accustomed to viewing photographs as simple recorded fact that they were beautiful images able to convey emotion.

Inscriptions

Written in ink on recto of mount: "R.S. Redfield [signed] / #1481 Mount Washington, Mass, July 22, 1890"

Provenance

Estate of the artist

Exhibition history

Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-September 16, 2007).

Quick Overview

Artist: Robert Stuart Redfield (American, 1849–1923)
Date: 1890
Medium: platinum print
Dimensions: Image: 19.3 x 24.1 cm (7 5/8 x 9 1/2 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 1994.279

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.