H. Granville Barker in Character

Frederick H. EvansWW-1900-103089

1900·Platinum print·20.8 × 9.9 cm (8 1/4 × 3 15/16 in.)

<p>Best known for his painstakingly planned and printed images of cathedral interiors, Frederick H. Evans was elected to the Linked Ring, a London Pictorialist group, in 1900. That year, Evans abandoned the meticulous, sharp style of his architectural views and instead took up portraiture employing a painterly, soft focus, which he had formerly used in landscapes. On July 1, 1900, Evans was present for the private London performance of Candida, a daring play written by his close friend George Bernard Shaw six years earlier. At this event he photographed the enterprising young actor Harley Granville Barker in character as the poet Eugene Marchbanks, who competes for the affections of the play’s title character, the wife of a clergyman. Unusual for Evans, this picture emphasizes the shape of the figure, and the background has been all but removed through close vertical cropping.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1900
Medium: Platinum print
Dimensions: 20.8 × 9.9 cm (8 1/4 × 3 15/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Frederick H. Evans

Artist

Frederick H. Evans

Photography

Frederick H. Evans was a British photographer and architect whose platinum prints of English and French cathedrals established him as a master of architectural photography in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Working exclusively in platinum and bromoil processes, Evans created luminous, architecturally precise images that emphasized the spatial and spiritual dimensions of Gothic interiors. His photographs, characterized by exacting compositional control and a palette of cool grays and subtle tonalities, moved beyond documentary record to achieve what he termed 'the poetry of architecture.' Evans was also a prominent book designer and advocate for the platinum process in fine art photography.

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