The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 3, 2026

Marsh Weeds

before 1891, published 1895

Peter Henry Emerson

(British, 1856–1936)
England
photogravure
Image: 10.2 x 14.3 cm (4 x 5 5/8 in.); Paper: 17.5 x 26.7 cm (6 7/8 x 10 1/2 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. Roger J. Lerch in Memory of Carl J. Lerch and Winifred J. Lerch Endowment 2025.16
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Around the time Emerson made this image, one of his most artistic, he wrote that he no longer believed photography to be an art form.

Description

Emerson’s early photographs emphasized naturalism, but his late works such as this one demonstrate influences from Japanese art, French Impressionism, and the painting and graphic art of Whistler, who was a personal acquaintance. This looser, more expressionistic, and emotional late style helped lay the groundwork for Pictorialist photography (for example, see 1980.141), the movement that succeeded in getting photography more widely accepted as a fine art.
  • {{cite web|title=Marsh Weeds|url=false|author=Peter Henry Emerson|year=before 1891, published 1895|access-date=03 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2025.16