The Old Elm

Specializing in wintry landscapes, Redfield established himself as one of the leading American Impressionists through his depictions of Bucks County and the Delaware River Valley. Born in Bridgeville, Delaware, Redfield received his artistic training initially at the Pennsylvania Academy, where he studied with Thomas Anshutz and Thomas Hovenden. Along with his classmate Robert Henri, Redfield traveled to France to study with William Bouguereau and Tony-Robert Fleury. While studying in France, Redfield abandoned his pursuit of portrait painting and took to painting outdoors, like the French Impressionists, traveling to rural sites historically associated with 'plein-air' painting such as Barbizon and Pont-Aven in Normandy. A proponent of directly observing nature, he scorned artists whose works were executed within the studio. Redfield attracted younger artists who traveled to Bucks County to learn from his example. "The Old Elm" reveals Redfield's rapid working process through the quickly applied brushwork that defines the trees in the upper left portion of the painting. A contemporary critic characterized Redfield's work as a synthesis of Courbet's realism and the "independence of air and light" of Impressionism. This combination can be seen in the trees in the foreground, where the heavily impastoed paint and distinctly colored brushstrokes create a three-dimensional surface that imitates the texture of tree bark.