Provenance
Charles C. Glover [1846-1936], Washington;[1] his granddaughter, Anna Hoyer Millar, Baroness Inchyra [1906-1999, née Anna Judith Elisabeth de Marees van Swinderen], London; gift 16 April 1962 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] According to Helen W. Henderson, _The Art Treasures of Washington_, Boston, 1912: 144.
Accession Number
2015.19.92
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 97.16 × 127 cm (38 1/4 × 50 in.) | framed: 109.22 × 138.43 × 20.32 cm (43 × 54 1/2 × 8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Corcoran Collection (Gift of Lady Inchyra)
Tags
Painting Early Modern (1901–1950) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
Edward Willis Redfield (1869-1965) was an American painter known as the leading figure of the Pennsylvania Impressionist tradition, whose bravura landscapes of the Bucks County countryside painted outdoors in all weather conditions make him one of the most important American Impressionists. The Road to Center Bridge from c. 1922 depicts a road near Center Bridge in the bold, bravura manner that distinguishes Redfield's best landscapes from the more gentle Impressionism of his contemporaries. The c. 1922 date places this in Redfield's mature period, when he was producing the bravura landscapes painted outdoors that are his most accomplished works.
Cultural Impact
The Road to Center Bridge is important in the history of American Impressionism because it demonstrates the bold, bravura manner that Redfield brought to landscape painting as the leading figure of the Pennsylvania Impressionist tradition. Redfield's bravura landscapes—painted outdoors in all weather conditions with bold Impressionist brushwork—represent one of the most accomplished traditions of American Impressionism, and the c. 1922 painting shows this tradition at its most characteristic.
Why It Matters
The Road to Center Bridge is Redfield's bravura Impressionism: a Bucks County road painted outdoors with bold Impressionist brushwork by the leading figure of the Pennsylvania Impressionist tradition. The c. 1922 painting shows the accomplished outdoor painting tradition that is Ohio Impressionism's most distinctive contribution.
