38 Ansel Adams (1902-1984) Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942 signed “Ansel Adams” lower right on mount gelatin silver print, 15½ by 19½ in. Ansel Adams captured some of the most iconic and beloved images of the North American continent. Often using the natural landscape as his subject, Adams documented these majestic landforms at a time when human expansion was fast overtaking the frontier wilderness. Born in San Francisco at the turn of the century, he spent as much time out-of-doors as possible. At the age of fourteen, after reading In the Heart of the Sierras, a book about Yosemite by renowned conservationist J.M. Hutchings, Adams convinced his father to take him to visit the park in person. When they arrived Adams’ father gave him a Kodak No. 1 Box Brownie camera, which he used to capture every detail of the landscape. Frustrated by his inability to convey the majesty of nature in his pictures, Adams set out to learn every step of the photographic process so that he would be able to improve his finished product. In 1925 he committed himself to photography, giving up on a fledging career as a concert pianist to pursue the endeavor. Taking frequent hikes with the Sierra Club and living in Yosemite with his wife, Virginia, he continued to document his excursions, refining his photographic process throughout the decade. For Adams, photography was deeply tied to his love of nature and the outdoors. His works capture the transcendental qualities of mountain summits, plunging valleys, and morning sunlight glittering across blue waters. They do not, however, achieve this effect without a significant amount of effort on the artist’s part. Adams learned quickly that simply positioning the lens in front of his subject would not yield his desired results, and throughout his career he played with filters, attempting to visualize how a finished print would look before taking the photograph. Although increasingly becoming known for his artistic work, Adams was forced to take on commercial work to support himself. He was recognized for his unparalleled understanding of the technical process of photography and developing film, and was even taken on as a consultant at Polaroid and Hasselblad.
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In addition to creating a large body of artistic work, Adams was also an active conservationist. He fought to protect all American wilderness, but especially Yosemite and the other national parks. Managing director of the Ansel Adams Trust, William Turnage, commented: “I can’t think of any artist in our history who was more American than Ansel Adams...He grew up in a city that was only fifty years old....his subject matter was as quintessentially American as it possibly could be. The thing that separates us from the Old World, more than anything I think, is that we have all of...these extraordinary great pieces of wild land which Ansel of course devoted much of his life’s energy to saving. So his cause was American. His work was about America...” More than simply documenting America, Adams’ photographs evoke a certain kind of patriotism. He so successfully instilled his love of the American landscape in his photos that the viewer of his works cannot help but feel the same way. Grand Tetons and the Snake River is one of Adams’ seminal works. He has expertly captured the majesty of the peaks, the winding river, and the dramatic clouds. The remarkable angle of the photo simultaneously conveys a sense of space and closeness. The viewer can recognize the enormity of the landforms in the image, but feels as though they are right there in the middle of the landscape, and not standing back looking at it from afar. Grand Tetons and the Snake River represents the best of Ansel Adams: iconic subject matter, dramatic composition, and expert technical skill. provenance:
Private Collection, Massachusetts
literature:
Ansel Adams A Documentary Film American Experience, PBS, 2002. $40,000 - $60,000