Second Ave Rock Island, Ill. during high water

Art Historical Context

Henry P. Bosse’s 1888 cyanotype captures Second Avenue in Rock Island, Illinois, submerged during a period of high water along the Mississippi River. The-framed scene transforms a flooded urban street into a quiet, reflective vista, where buildings and sidewalks appear to float upon the still surface. As both a civil engineer and photographer, Bosse documented the river’s seasonal floods and engineering interventions for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, creating one of the most compelling visual records of late-nineteenth-century river life. The choice of cyanotype—a process prized for its deep Prussian-blue tones and durability—allowed Bosse to produce large, detailed prints that could withstand field conditions while retaining striking aesthetic qualities. The oval format further softens the documentary subject, lending the image an almost painterly elegance. Acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015, the photograph stands as both a technical achievement and a vivid reminder of the Mississippi’s powerful influence on the communities along its banks.

About the Artist

Henry P. Bosse · 1844–1893

Henry Peter Bosse was born in 1844 in Sonneberg, Prussia (now Germany), and immigrated to the United States around 1870. He settled in the Midwest and joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1874 as a draftsman. By the mid-1880s he had risen to chief draftsman in the Rock Island, Illinois, district, where he remained for the rest of his career. His dual expertise in engineering and visual docum...