Young Woman Holding Roses (1897): Art, History and Details

Young Woman Holding Roses (1897) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is James Arthur (American, born Canada, 1855–1912).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the 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.

Object facts

• Title: Young Woman Holding Roses
• Date: 1897
• Creator attribution: James Arthur (American, born Canada, 1855–1912)
• Culture: America
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: Gelatin silver print mounted to glass
• Collection: Photography
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2022.15

A detail from the museum

Roses are a traditional symbol of beauty and its ephemerality.

Collection credit

Hershey Family Art Purchase Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.