The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Dawn and Sunset

Dawn and Sunset

1885
(British, 1830–1901)
England, 19th century
platinum print from glass negative
Image: 26.2 x 36.9 cm (10 5/16 x 14 1/2 in.); Mounted: 29.3 x 42.9 cm (11 9/16 x 16 7/8 in.); Second mount: 38.4 x 51.2 cm (15 1/8 x 20 3/16 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 71.1 cm (22 x 28 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1998.105
Location: not on view

Description

Henry Peach Robinson was a pioneer in the "combination printing" technique, employing a number of negatives to make one photographic print. Keenly interested in portraying picturesque narrative scenes and landscapes, he carefully staged elaborate tableaux, often relying on relatives to serve as models. In Dawn and Sunset he presented a symbolic portrayal of three generations, from infancy to old age. By using the combination method, he was able to exercise greater control over his subjects' poses, gestures, and expressions than would have been possible with a single exposure. The smaller, platinum print version provides an instructive example of how an artist's vision can change when a different process is used to print the same negative. The platinum process provided a warmer, more subtle tonal range than the albumen process. The larger, albumen print appears almost journalistic in its use of harsh, even lighting, whereas in the platinum print Robinson was able to hide many details in dark shadow. This created a sense of unity that is missing in the larger image.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Acquires Major New Sculpture, Rare Chinese Prints, Contemporary Prints, Drawings & Photographs,” October 30, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
  • The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia, June 21-Sept. 11, 1994: "Pictorial Effect, Naturalistic Vision: The Photographs and Theories of Henry Peach Robinson and Peter Henry Emerson," exhibition catalogue no. 45, repr. p. 19.
    The Art Museum, Princeton University, March 25- June 7, 1994: "Pictorial Effect, Naturalistic Vision: The Photographs and Theories of Henry Peach Robinson and Peter Henry Emerson," exhibition catalogue no. 45, repr. p. 19.
  • {{cite web|title=Dawn and Sunset|url=false|author=Henry Peach Robinson|year=1885|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.105