The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 18, 2026

A square bromoil print in smoky charcoal tones on off-white paper depicts two tugboats moored side-by-side. The boat on the left displays "VIRGINIA" in block letters. Dark, blurred reflections stretch across the water in the foreground. Soft-focus textures and a grainy haze obscure the background, where the ghostly, skeletal outlines of a bridge and crane emerge from the fog. The boats form a dense, dark anchor against the misty, pale atmosphere.

Side by Side

1930–60

Lawrence Schreiber

(American, 1904–1982)
America
bromoil print
Gift of William Kubat 2023.86
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The bromoil transfer process allows the photographer enormous control over the texture and tone of the print.

Description

The bromoil transfer process, like lithography, relies on the fact that oil repels water. A bromoil transfer starts with a photographic print that, after bleaching and treatment, becomes a matrix from which a final print is made. That final print is ink on paper, with no silver content. The Virginia, seen in this image, was built in 1914 as a coal-powered steam tugboat, converted to diesel in 1921, and to diesel electric propulsion in 1951.
  • {{cite web|title=Side by Side|url=false|author=Lawrence Schreiber|year=1930–60|access-date=18 October 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.86