Edward Willis Redfield

(American, 1869-1965)

First Snow, 1928

oil on canvas

signed E. W. Redfield (lower left); also signed and titled in pencil (stretcher)

26 x 32 in.

This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Edward Redfield being compiled by Dr. Thomas C. Folk.

Provenance:

Plymouth Meeting Gallery, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, 1990.

Acquired directly from the above.

Private Collection, Pennsylvania.

Exhibited:

Washington, DC, Taggart & Jorgensen Gallery, "The Pennsylvania Impressionists : Painters of the New Hope School," May 4 - June 2, 1990 (traveling to Doylestown, Michener Art Museum, June 16 - August 26, 1990).

Lot Note:

Redfield’s First Snow (1928), likely a depiction of the brook along River Road, north of Centre Bridge, Pennsylvania, captures the quiet grandeur of a narrow stream, a recurring motif within his body of work. Here, the water acts as a compositional guide—an invitation to explore the depths of a snow-laden forest. Rendered in characteristically thick, muscular brushstrokes, Redfield accords the landscape a kind of noble simplicity, reframing the starkness of winter as a full-throated celebration of rural beauty. Though devoid of figures, the scene brims with life; the meandering stream and subtle animations of sunlight and shadow suggest the potential for movement, change, renewal. Executed en plein air, First Snow attests to the visual and emotional complexities—indeed, the spirit—of both site and season.

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Adam Veil

Adam Veil serves as Vice President and a Fine Art Specialist at Freeman’s.

Veil joined Freeman’s in 2021 following years of experience in both the auction world and the academy. His area of specialization is pre-WWII American Art, although he has lectured and published on topics ranging from Mexican landscape painting and Old Master printmaking to art market economics.

Veil earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in art history from Penn State University and pursued doctoral studies at Indiana University Bloomington. Prior to joining Freeman’s, Veil was Head of Fine Art at a Washington, D.C.-area auction house, and Executive Director of the Santa Fe Art Auction, where he oversaw market-setting auctions of classical and contemporary Western, Southwestern, and California art. He has also held positions in provenance research, art fair operations, and as editor and producer of The Conversation, a popular Los Angeles–based contemporary art podcast. Concurrent with his role at Freeman’s, Veil is a professor at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses in Renaissance, Modern, and American art history.

American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists

First Snow, 1928

American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists

First Snow, 1928

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