Riverfront, Burlington, Iowa

Artist Henry P. Bosse (American, born Prussia, 1844 - 1903)

Date1885

MediumCyanotype

DimensionsImage: 10 1/2 × 13 3/8 inches (26.67 × 33.97 cm)
Sheet: 14 1/2 × 17 3/16 inches (36.83 × 43.66 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.525

Signednone

InscribedOn sheet recto, bottom, in black type: "Riverfront - Burlington, Ia. 1885."; On sheet verso, bottom, in pencil: "H.BOSSEE [sic] CYANOTYPE "RIVERFRONT-BURLINGTON, IA. 1885 FROM "VIEWS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER MAJOR A. MACKINZIE"

MarkingsOn sheet recto, top, in black type: "130."

Edition/State/Proofno. 30 in series

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionOval landscape image with trees in the forground, river in middle ground, and city skyline along horizon.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Rotation 22. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, August 10, 2016 – January 8, 2017, no cat.

Gallery Label

This view of the upper Mississippi River was originally intended to serve a practical purpose. It was used as a pictorial aid in the construction of bridges, levees, wharfs and landings. Henry Bosse produced several of these views while employed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1880s. Engineers often used cyanotype (blueprint) paper to copy drawings, due to its relative ease and low cost.

Provenance

Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1999;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.

Published References

Keith F. Davis, The Origins of American Photography: from Daguerreotype to Dry-Plate, 1839-1885. With contributions by Jane L. Aspinwall. (Kansas City, MO: Hall Family Foundation: in association with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2007), 216 (repro.), 341.

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