Mouth of Wisconsin River
1885
Medium
Cyanotype
Dimensions
Image: 10 9/16 × 13 1/2 in. (26.8 × 34.3 cm), oval Sheet: 14 7/16 × 17 3/16 in. (36.7 × 43.7 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Acquisitions Fund and Mr. and Mrs. John A. Moran Gift, in memory of Louise Chisholm Moran, 2015
Accession Number
2015.36
Tags
Art Historical Context
Henry P. Bosse’s *Mouth of Wisconsin River* (1885) captures the serene confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers in a striking cyanotype. Created using a photographic process that produces rich Prussian blue tones, the oval image evokes both scientific documentation and poetic atmosphere. Bosse, a German-born civil engineer and photographer, worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, recording the Upper Mississippi River system during a period of rapid industrial expansion and river navigation improvements. The choice of cyanotype—a medium often associated with architectural bluepr...