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Bear Lake, LVRR
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
A distinguished commercial and documentary landscape photographer in Philadelphia, William H. Rau was commissioned in the 1890s by the Lehigh Valley Railroad to execute a series of scenic views along a new line. Realizing photography's advertising potential, the railroad company employed Rau to select picturesque subjects that might be seen while traveling by rail. Contact-printed from a mammoth plate negative, the landscape's shapes, textures, and tonal ranges are richly detailed.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineLehigh Valley Railroad: Bear Lake, LVRR, c. 1898–99. William H. Rau (American, 1855–1920). Albumen print from gelatin dry plate negative; image: 43.5 x 51.9 cm (17 1/8 x 20 7/16 in.); paper: 45.3 x 53.7 cm (17 13/16 x 21 1/8 in.); matted: 55.9 x 66 cm (22 x 26 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1988.88
