Name of interviewee: Edward W. Redfield
Date of birth/age at interview: December 1869/93
Interviewers: Charles Hargens, Jr., Harry Leith-Ross, John Richardson
Interview date: February 20, 1963
Interview location: Redfield home, Centre Bridge
Interview length: 46 minutes
Time span discussed: 1887 to 1963
Summary: This interview among fellow artists compliments recording 1 with some retelling of stories. However the friendly nature of the talk allows Redfield’s strong personality to come to the fore. A confident voice, great memory, love of his topic (painting), and his stories of other painters make this a vibrant listen.
Time markers:
00:22 – walking with Lathrop
01:01 – Hargens story about walking in South Dakota 16 miles into town
01:39 – Leith-Ross bicycling story
01:54 – Redfield racing stories, marathon trip to Atlantic City and return
07:04 – story of close friend Walter Schofield “stealing” Redfield’s idea and winning a Carnegie Institute juried prize, jury included Redfield; sold painting for $350
13:23 – sequel regarding his similar painting The Crest; 2d prize in Carnegie Institute show with Schofield on jury
14:56 – reading and tearing up old letters; Schofield letter from England where he enlisted in World War I
15:32 – Hargens letter from Robert Henri, who also lived in Dakota as a boy
16:14 – story of Henri’s origins; Redfield’s opinion of his portraits
19:20 – George Bellows, comments by all three artists; Eugene Speicher
21:55 – keeping paint loose during his cold outdoor painting; using poppy seed oil or cottonseed oil; poppy seed oil shortage during World War I
24:13 – story about using cottonseed oil for two paintings of Carversville mill in two days that earned $13,000, one in Corcoran in Washington, DC (part in Redfield recording 1)
31:34 – Panama-Pacific International Exhibition; Joseph Pennell, Cecilia Beaux, John Singer Sargent; story about jury work
39:34 – who first on local art scene, Lathrop or Redfield?
40:20 – Dr. George Marshall; first purchase of Centre Bridge property
41:32 – moved to area in 1898, year in France; was poor
43:04 – Carl Weber, George Inness, and others painted in area before Redfield
44:00 – Richardson reads his short biography of Redfield looking for agreement on facts (and the praise Richardson lays on)
45:09 – judgment on modern art (full version in Redfield interview 3)
