: Since the Nineteenth Century, the natural beauty of the Delaware
River and the picturesque streams, hills, trees and villages of
the countryside around New Hope have captured the imagination of
numerous talented artists. The vibrant art colony that formed
around New Hope a century ago produced a distinctively rugged
brand of Impressionism that pumped new vigor into that fading
style in this country.
The revival of interest in recent years in the achievements of
the Pennsylvania Impressionists has focused much deserved
attention on the work of their leader, Edward Willis Redfield. An
exhibition organized by the James A. Michener Art Museum
underscores Redfield's talents. This exhibition carries on the
museum's efforts to advance knowledge and appreciation for the
art of the Impressionists of the Keystone State.
On view at the Michener's new New Hope gallery, "Edward W.
Redfield: Just Values and Fine Seeing" can be seen through
January 9. The exhibition travels to Sewell C. Biggs Museum of
American Art in Dover, Del., January 26-April 26.
Redfield's vigorous, expressive depictions of the river, brooks,
hills, forests and land around Bucks County, especially in
winter, made him a leading American artist in the first two
decades of the Twentieth Century. His bold, strongly brushed
glorifications of nature were often contrasted favorably with the
more decorative, sentimental canvases of the Impressionists of
New England.
The Redfield perspective, organized by the Michener's curator of
collections, Constance Kimmerle, offers more than 50 works from
throughout the artist's long career.
Born in Bridgeville, Del., but raised in New Jersey, Redfield
(1869-1965) was the son of a successful Quaker nurseryman.
Trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and in
Paris, Redfield was a rugged outdoorsman and something of a
loner.
In 1898 Redfield bought a farm along the towpath of the canal
adjacent to the stately Delaware River in Center Bridge, Penn. He
said he settled in rural Bucks County, away from the noise,
bustle and grim of the city, "not for the beauty of the
countryside, but because this was a place where an independent,
self-sufficient man could make a living from the land, bring up a
family and still have the freedom to paint as he saw fit."
Redfield lived up to that declaration. In Center Bridge he worked
not in his studio but outdoors seeking, as he put it, "to capture
the look of a scene, whether it was a brook or a bridge, as it
looked on a certain day."
Redfield committed himself to completing plein air landscapes at
"one go" as a means of recording his immediate responses to
nature. This approach, of course, posed considerable physical
challenges to an artist specializing in winterscapes.
"In the midst of a winter storm," according to Bruce Katsiff, the
Michener's director and CEO, "...he would strap his large 50- by
56-inch canvases to a nearby tree, thin his paints with linseed
oil to keep them from freezing, and use his gloved hands to paint
the scene before him. His belief that a painting should be
completed 'in one go' caused him to begin work in early morning
and stand in the cold until the picture was finished in late
afternoon."
Until acquiring a car in 1912, Redfield painted most works within
a mile walk of his home. He often returned to record the same
area from different vantage points and/or in different weather
conditions or seasons. Fascinated with the evanescence of the
natural world, he utilized a vigorous realism in all his works,
with special emphasis on the texture of snow and its receptivity
to sunlight.
"By 1910," Kimmerle writes, Redfield's "keen ability to capture
the ever-changing phases of winter had earned him a reputation as
the leading painter of snow scenes."
His palette, muted at first, grew brighter as he matured as a
painter. An early winter scene, "Waiting for Spring," 1901, shows
a dark, low boat tethered in the canal under a gray, cloudy sky.
His use of high-keyed colors and admiration for the beauty and
power of the Delaware River are reflected in such wintry views as
"The Riverbank, Lambertville, N.J.," circa 1908-10, "The Upper
Delaware," circa 1918, and "Late Afternoon," circa 1925-30.
He often zeroed in on water flowing over rock-strewn streams
under bright sunshine in the midst of winter. In "The Trout
Brook," circa 1916, and "Winter Wonderland," circa 1917 - each
measuring a substantial 50 by 56 inches - quick brushstrokes and
heightened colors enliven a brilliant wintry setting.
In perhaps his most beautiful winter scene, "Lumberville in
Winter," 1930, sunlight gives the thick mantel of snow a bluish
tinge reminiscent of Frenchman Claude Monet's snowscapes.
Later, as in "Early Spring," 1920, he depicted scenes, such as
the Delaware and its banks, in other seasons. One of his most
striking fall views, "October," or "Autumn," depicts a solitary
figure standing on a narrow country road amidst colorful autumnal
foliage that nearly obscures a house.
In 1923 Redfield sketched on an envelope the dramatic
conflagration that resulted when lightning struck the wooden
bridge across the Delaware near his house. Back in his studio he
created a dramatic view of people looking on helplessly as
spectacular flames engulf the wooden span. Measuring a sizable
501/4 by 561/4 inches, "The Burning of Center Bridge," 1923, is
one of his most memorable images.
During the course of many summers in Boothbay Harbor, Maine,
where his house remains in family hands, his works emphasized the
beauty of the coastal setting and the power of the sea.
Redfield's view of the harbor, replete with fishing shacks, boats
bobbing on blue water and the village in the distance, are
standouts. Top examples: "Boothbay Harbor," 1915, and "October
Breezes," 1927. "Solitude," 1927, captures waves confronting the
rocky shoreline.
Redfield contributed to American art history while in Maine when
he recommended to his visiting friend, painter-teacher Robert
Henri, that he check out the spectacular scenery of nearby
Monhegan Island. Henri's enthusiasm about the place was reflected
in his vigorous seascapes - and the number of his students,
including George Bellows, Randall Davey and Rockwell Kent, whom
he encouraged to visit and paint the rocky island.
An aloof figure in rural Bucks County who shied away from social
events and shunned publicity in favor of working, Redfield
nevertheless achieved wide popularity with critics and the
public. Many viewed Redfield as a leader among artists who were
invigorating American art, free of European traditions.
He won a boatload of honors - it is said he received more medals
and prizes than any other artist except John Singer Sargent - and
major museums collected his work. When he became an Academician
at the National Academy of Design in 1904, Thomas Eakins
presented a fine portrait of his friend.
Redfield was honored with his own gallery, displaying 21 works,
at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco
in 1915. Critics hailed him as a strong, virile American painter
who created simple, direct and appealing canvases.
By the time he died in 1965 at the age of 96, the art world had
passed by powerful, expressive realists like Redfield, and his
work had receded into the shadows. This splendid retrospective,
with so many beautiful works documenting Redfield's rare gift of
evoking nature's most profound moods, should give further impetus
to the revival of his reputation and that of the Pennsylvania
Impressionists.
The 114-page Redfield catalog, written by Kimmerle, contains more
than 70 color reproductions and numerous vintage photographs.
Handsomely co-published by the Michener Museum and University of
Pennsylvania Press, it is priced at $34.95 (softcover).
The Redfield exhibition is at the Michener Art Museum at 500
Union Square Drive in New Hope. For information,
www.michenerartmuseum.org or 215-340-9800.
