Boys with a Boat, Ohio River, near Wheeling, West Virginia
1880
Medium
Photography-Photoprint
Classification
Photography-Photoprint
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Accession Number
1994.91.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1880, American artist Thomas Anshutz a timeless moment of boyhood freedom along the Ohio River near Wheeling, West Virginia in his photograph *Boys with a Boat*. image depicts young boys, unclothed and at ease, gathered around a simple rowboat amid the river's gentle flow. Anshutz, best known for his paintings influenced by realism and impressionism, turned to photography during this era, using it to document natural scenes with a candid eye. This photoprint exemplifies late 19th-century photography's shift toward artistic expression rather than mere documentation. Printed from a negative,...