Rare 19th Century Watercolor and Platinotype -- Coming Home
Circa 1900

About the Item

Rare 19th Century Watercolor and Platinotype -- Coming Home Wonderful and rare 19th Century watercolor and platinotype (Watercolor over Platinum photograph) attributed to Edward Lamson Henry (American, 1841-1919), circa 1900. Signature not visible. Condition: tonal aging consistent with age. New acid-free mat. Presented in antique patinated gilt wood frame under antique glass. Image size: 11.50"H x 19.50"W. A fully painted watercolor painting of a serene setting in the 1860s. Henry created other Watercolor and Platinotype pieces during his lifetime. We show another digital example (last image) of a Watercolor and Platinotype work by the artist, (for reference only and not included) Artist Bio: Born in Charleston, South Carolina, on January 12, 1841, Edward Lamson Henry, with a bent for nostalgia, became a noted painted of super-realistic genre scenes of early 19th century rural America. With minute detail, these works are now considered old fashioned, but they reflected the love of collecting old things that was stimulated by the 1875 Philadelphia Exposition. He also did portraits, and his series of railroad scenes are particularly notable. As a child, Henry was orphaned and brought at age seven to New York City where he was raised by relatives. He showed early art talent and began study at age 14 with Walter Oddie. In 1858, he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy and then studied in Paris from 1860 to 1862 with Gustave Courbet and Charles Gleyre and traveled in Italy. However, he adopted none of Courbet's dramatic painting style. Fully trained as an artist, Henry returned to the United States in 1863, and served in the Civil War in the Quartermaster General's Department. He recorded many war scenes on the James and Potomac Rivers, and this experience influenced his work in that he continued to depict transportation throughout his career. He also did battle sketches with the Union Army in Virginia. In 1871, he returned to Europe, and then made another trip there in 1875 after his marriage. Henry was one of the founders of the New York Cragsmoor Art Colony, near Ellenville, where he and his wife built a home in the 1880s. He did sentimental paintings at Cragsmoor that reflected beauty rather than harsh conditions of the people or the rugged landscape. Edward Henry exhibited at the National Academy of Design for sixty years. Many of his works are owned by the New York State Department of Education. Sources: American Art Review The platinotype process was invented by William Willis (British, 1841–1923); patented by Willis in 1873. Johann Wolfgang Doebereiner was the first to describe the photochemical reduction of platinum salts (1826). He also discovered the photochemical reduction of ferric oxalate. In 1832 John Frederick William Herschel described the photosensitivity of a water solution of platinous (II) compounds when irradiated by UV radiation. (Source: Getty Center) Platinotype is a photographic process using a finely precipitated platinum salt and an iron salt in the sensitizing solution to produce prints in platinum black. Mike Ware describes Willis’s invention in his site Alternative Photography: “Despite the best endeavors of the founders of photography in the 1840’s, nearly fifty years were to elapse before a viable platinum printing process was established by William Willis (1841-1923) who had himself devoted twenty years’ research to perfecting it.” (Source: Princeton)

Attributed to:

Edward Lamson Henry (1841-1919, American)

Creation Year:

Circa 1900

Dimensions:

Height: 19.25 in (48.9 cm)Width: 27.5 in (69.85 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)

Medium:

Platinum,Paper,Watercolor

Movement & Style:

Hudson River School

Period:

Late 19th Century