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Young Woman Holding Roses
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
James Arthur created this photograph as art, a radical concept for a photograph at the time. He indicates that elevated status by signing and dating it like a painting. The young woman cradling the roses—which still have their thorns—calls upon traditional art historical and literary allegories of the transitory nature of beauty and youth.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineYoung Woman Holding Roses, 1897. James Arthur (American, born Canada, 1855–1912). Gelatin silver print mounted to glass. The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Julius L. Greenfield Photography Acquisition Fund, 2022.15
