RUSSELL LAWRENCE FRENCH (American) Vintage silver

Russell Lawrence French (American, Active 1920s - 1930s)

Fisherman's Work.

Vintage silver print?. c1920s. Printed c1920s. Signed and titled on the mat, recto. Photographer's annotations, verso. 7 7/16 x 9 11/16 in. (189 x 246 mm). French's work has sold at numerous auction houses, most notably Swann Galleries in New York City. French photographed extensively in Southern California during the 1920s and 1930s, selecting, among his subjects, landscapes of the rural San Gabriel valley, the cliffs of Red Rock Canyon in the Mojave Desert, the ocean vistas around San Juan Capistrano, and the picturesque sections of Los Angeles. French worked in the prevalent pictorialist style which had developed in Southern California with the founding of the Camera Pictorialists of Los Angeles in 1914. Their annual exhibitions began in 1918, and among the founding members were Edward Weston, Margrethe Mather, Fred Archer, and Louis Fleckenstein. Although too little is known about French's life and career, his photographs speak of his skill in composition and his attention to lighting and detail. His images evoke the physical beauty of Southern California, which remained largely unspoiled and inspirational to artists of that era.