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Lot Essay
The Rock Garden, Monhegan Island, Maine by Edward Redfield exudes the peaceful, quiet warmth of a summer afternoon. He presents this moment in time with a characteristic flourish of brushwork and vibrant colors that convey the essence of the day. Redfield was so taken with the beauty of Monhegan Island and its surroundings that he eventually bought a home in nearby Boothbay and spent almost every vacation in and around the area. The salt air, clear skies and brilliant hues of the terrain inspired the artist to produce magnificent jewel-toned paintings, like The Rock Garden, Monhegan Island.
The artist colony on Monhegan Island, Maine, founded in the mid-1800s, was fully established by the turn of the century, drawing artists such as Robert Henri, George Bellows and Edward Hopper. As early as 1903 Redfield and his wife began spending summers at Monhegan. That summer Henri and his wife joined the Redfields and Henri noted the impression made by Redfield on the Monhegan Islanders, "slinging the paint over big canvases, astounding the natives and astounding the local artists with his rapidity as well as his results..." (as quoted in B. Perlman, ed., Revolutionary Realism: The Letters of John Sloan and Robert Henri, Princeton, New Jersey, 1996, p. 74)
Redfield began his career at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where his teachers imparted Thomas Eakins’ emphasis on realism and close observation of subjects on the young artist. In 1889, Redfield traveled to Paris, where he enrolled at the Académie Julian and also studied the works of contemporary French artists. Taking a cue from the French Impressionists, Redfield abandoned the studio in favor of painting outdoors and decided to also abandon portraiture and figure painting for landscape. He observed, “With landscape, if I make it good enough, there are many who will appreciate it. Portrait painting must please the subject as a general thing—or no pay!” (as quoted in, C. Kimmerle, “Edward W. Redfield,” American Art Review, August 2004, vol. XVI, no. 4, p. 102)
Redfield sought to not only replicate nature on his canvases, but to evoke the feeling of a particular landscape. Redfield made no preliminary sketches, but rather painted directly on the canvas en plein air with force and speed. He treated his oil paintings much like a watercolorist completing them in one session with no later changes or touch-ups. This technique lends a vivacity and directness to his paintings that can get lost in heavily-worked studio paintings.
In The Rock Garden, Monhegan Island, Redfield builds up the paint with multiple layers of thick pigment, creating a rich impastoed texture. The lively brushstrokes create a dynamic cross-hatching effect and a pattern of color that brings the scene to life. In the foreground the vividly-colored and rigorously painted flower beds provide a dynamic contrast to the austere New England clapboard houses. A winding path runs diagonally through the scene, providing a sense of spatial recession to a distant shore. In The Rock Garden, Monhegan Island, Redfield adapted the lessons of his European training to a distinctly American scene.
Redfield was the recipient of more awards and medals than any other American artist with the exception of John Singer Sargent. (J.M.W. Fletcher, Edward Willis Redfield (1869-1965), An American Impressionist, Lahaska, Pennsylvania, 1996, p. 3) In fact he was awarded the N. Howard Heins Prize of $500 for The Rock Garden, Monhegan Island, Maine in 1928 at the Grand Central Art Galleries, New York.
This painting is included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Redfield by Tom Folk Ph.D., AAA.
Please note the present lot includes the original Yates frame.
The artist colony on Monhegan Island, Maine, founded in the mid-1800s, was fully established by the turn of the century, drawing artists such as Robert Henri, George Bellows and Edward Hopper. As early as 1903 Redfield and his wife began spending summers at Monhegan. That summer Henri and his wife joined the Redfields and Henri noted the impression made by Redfield on the Monhegan Islanders, "slinging the paint over big canvases, astounding the natives and astounding the local artists with his rapidity as well as his results..." (as quoted in B. Perlman, ed., Revolutionary Realism: The Letters of John Sloan and Robert Henri, Princeton, New Jersey, 1996, p. 74)
Redfield began his career at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where his teachers imparted Thomas Eakins’ emphasis on realism and close observation of subjects on the young artist. In 1889, Redfield traveled to Paris, where he enrolled at the Académie Julian and also studied the works of contemporary French artists. Taking a cue from the French Impressionists, Redfield abandoned the studio in favor of painting outdoors and decided to also abandon portraiture and figure painting for landscape. He observed, “With landscape, if I make it good enough, there are many who will appreciate it. Portrait painting must please the subject as a general thing—or no pay!” (as quoted in, C. Kimmerle, “Edward W. Redfield,” American Art Review, August 2004, vol. XVI, no. 4, p. 102)
Redfield sought to not only replicate nature on his canvases, but to evoke the feeling of a particular landscape. Redfield made no preliminary sketches, but rather painted directly on the canvas en plein air with force and speed. He treated his oil paintings much like a watercolorist completing them in one session with no later changes or touch-ups. This technique lends a vivacity and directness to his paintings that can get lost in heavily-worked studio paintings.
In The Rock Garden, Monhegan Island, Redfield builds up the paint with multiple layers of thick pigment, creating a rich impastoed texture. The lively brushstrokes create a dynamic cross-hatching effect and a pattern of color that brings the scene to life. In the foreground the vividly-colored and rigorously painted flower beds provide a dynamic contrast to the austere New England clapboard houses. A winding path runs diagonally through the scene, providing a sense of spatial recession to a distant shore. In The Rock Garden, Monhegan Island, Redfield adapted the lessons of his European training to a distinctly American scene.
Redfield was the recipient of more awards and medals than any other American artist with the exception of John Singer Sargent. (J.M.W. Fletcher, Edward Willis Redfield (1869-1965), An American Impressionist, Lahaska, Pennsylvania, 1996, p. 3) In fact he was awarded the N. Howard Heins Prize of $500 for The Rock Garden, Monhegan Island, Maine in 1928 at the Grand Central Art Galleries, New York.
This painting is included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Redfield by Tom Folk Ph.D., AAA.
Please note the present lot includes the original Yates frame.