id: 159462
accession number: 1996.238
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1996.238
updated: 2024-03-26 02:00:30.589000
Atlantic and Great Western Railway: Untitled, 1862. James Fitzallen Ryder (American, 1826–1904). Albumen print from wet collodion negative; image: 18.8 x 23.7 cm (7 3/8 x 9 5/16 in.); matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1996.238
title: Untitled
title in original language:
series: Atlantic and Great Western Railway
series in original language:
creation date: 1862
creation date earliest: 1862
creation date latest: 1862
current location:
creditline: John L. Severance Fund
copyright:
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culture: America, 19th century
technique: albumen print from wet collodion negative
department: Photography
collection: PH - American 19th Century
type: Photograph
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* James Fitzallen Ryder (American, 1826–1904) - artist
James Fitzallen Ryder American, 1826-1904
A respected commercial photographer, James F. Ryder was also recognized for advancing the photographic profession. Born in Ithaca, New York, he grew up in nearby Tompkins County, spending his early years as a printer's apprentice. In 1847 he learned daguerreotypy with a Professor Brightly and continued his studies three years later in Cleveland with Charles E. Johnson. From there Ryder worked as an itinerant photographer in southwestern New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, settling in Elyria, Ohio, in 1851. He eventually moved to Cleveland, taking over Johnson's studio in 1856 and producing mostly portraits.
In 1862 Ryder received a major commission from the Atlantic and Great Western Railway to photograph the construction of their new railroad. This work, one of the earliest rail surveys, was intended to satisfy stockholders and inspire future investors in the enterprise by supplying the speculators with a two-volume album of 129 photographs of the landscape, towns, stations and sheds, bridges, cuts, and tracks associated with the venture. Ryder is credited with bringing several photographic innovations to Cleveland, including the ambrotype, stereoview, hallotype, and hand-colored portraits. In 1868 he claimed to introduce negative retouching to the United States when he brought from Germany Karl Leutgib, a retoucher who had trained with Hermann Wilhelm Vogel.
Ryder had become Cleveland's leading photographer by the late 1860s and soon developed a national reputation as well. He was active in the National Photographers Association and was a founding member and first president of the Photographers Association of America (1880). A frequent lecturer and contributor to photographic publications, Ryder also wrote an autobiography, Voigtlander and I (1902). K.L.C.
* Atlantic and Great Western Railway - publisher
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measurements: Image: 18.8 x 23.7 cm (7 3/8 x 9 5/16 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: Written in pencil on recto: "31"; in pencil on verso: "31"; "2500-"
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Industry and Photography: Selections from the Permanent Collection
opening date: 1997-11-16T00:00:00
Industry and Photography: Selections from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1997-March 1, 1998).
title: Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 2007-06-24T00:00:00
Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-September 16, 2007); Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh, PA (October 3, 2009-January 3, 2010).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': 'Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 11/16/97 - 3/1/98. "Industry and Photography: Selections from the Permanent Collection."', 'opening_date': '1997-11-16T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'The Cleveland Museum of Art (6/24/07 - 9/16/07) and Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittburgh, PA (10/3/2009 - 1/3/2010); "Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art", no exhibition catalogue.', 'opening_date': '2007-06-24T00:00:00'}
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PROVENANCE
(William L. Schaeffer Photographic Works of Art, Chester, CT)
date:
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: June 4, 1996
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996.
page number: Reproduced: P. 312
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1996.238/1996.238_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1996.238/1996.238_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1996.238/1996.238_full.tif