Frederick H. Evans
English, 1853–1943
H. Granville Barker in Character
INV-4709
Frederick H. Evans
English, 1853–19431900
H. Granville Barker in Character
Frederick H. Evans English, 1853–1943 →Pictorialismplatinum printphotographic process
Date
1900
Medium
Platinum print
Dimensions
20.8 × 9.9 cm (8 1/4 × 3 15/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by Charles and Ruth Levy Foundation
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.
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