Ansel Adams Mural Project

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams MURAL PROJECT Mural Project

By Dale Wilcox

by Dale Wilcox

Table of Contents Mural Project. .....................................5 Biography.................................................6 New Mexico

Acoma Pueblo........................................10 Carlsbad Caverns...................................12 San Ildefonso.........................................24 Taos Pueblo...........................................26

Montana

Glacier National Park..............................30

California

Death Valley Monument..........................42 Kings River Canyon................................44 Owens Valley.........................................58

Wyoming

Grand Teton..........................................62 Yellowstone National Park.......................68

Utah

Zion National Park.................................78

Arizona

Canyon De Chelly..................................82 Grand Canyon National Park..................90 Saguaro National Monument.................102

Colorado

Boulder Dam........................................106 Mesa Verde National Park.....................114 Rocky Mountain National Park..............118

Mural Project Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes met photographer Ansel Adams in 1936 when Adams was in Washington DC for a conference on the future of national and state parks.

Adams showed the Secretary his prints of Kings Canyon which Ickes would later use to persuade Congress into making Kings Canyon a national park in 1940. In 1941 Secretary Ickes commissioned Adams for a special project.

The goal was to produce large format photographs, as Ansel Adams would say, “enlargements with a vengeance,” to convey not only the beauty and grandeur of the natural scene, but to show Interior managed resources, conservation, sound direction and stewardship of those resources.

Adams made more than 200 images during a trek that began in Yosemite National Park. He photographed more than just nature, portraying Boulder Dam, at the time the world’s largest. A special part of Adams’ assignment was to show Natives American life and culture.

In the two photographic murals that we have that show Native American children, both of them you can see there’s an emphasis on traditional jewelry and also a traditional lifestyle on the reservation. One is at a pueblo in San Ildefonso Pueblo, the other image is of a Navajo girl coming out of a Hogan and she’s dressed in traditional top and also traditional jewelry as well.

tary of the Interior and Ansel Adams has come to life on the walls of the main interior building in a dramatic way with the help of some modern technology.

Ansel Adams produced signed exhibition copies that he turned over to Secretary Ickes for consideration for murals within the Interior building. These were typically eight by ten and what would happen is if you were to take that image now and scan it digitally that eight by ten, scan it in a high resolution and you’re going to take that image and blow it up something that’s this big, when you zoom in on that to look at the details what you have are scratches, dust damage and the like. With the technology we have today we can actually go in and actually do a conservative cleaning where you can see the damaged spots and you can actually touch them up.

Ansel Adams: The Mural Project 1941 – 1942 features 26 giclee canvas murals of some of the most iconic sites of the American West including Grand Teton, Grand Canyon and Glacier National Parks. The 26 images that were chosen to be displayed inside the Department of the Interior Building are displayed on the right.

-Department of Interior

The mural project was halted in 1942 because of World War II. But today, under the 50th Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, the mural vision of Secretary Ickes, the 32nd SecreDepartment of Interior Building

5

Biography of Ansel Adams When Ansel Adams was four years old, he survived the San Francisco In his teens and early twenties, Adams was hoping to become a concert pianist. earthquake of 1906.

He developed a circle of friends who shared his love of music and the outdoors.

Because the Adams family home was located on the dunes beyond the He visited Yosemite every summer to go hiking. He joined a long tradition of Golden Gate, it survived with little damage. Adams, however, suffered a wilderness photographers and made many photographs on his treks. It was at Yosemite that he met Virginia Best, whom he would later marry. broken nose in an aftershock, when he was thrown against a brick wall.

Ansel Adams, a San Francisco native, was born on February 20, 1902. His mother, Olive Bray Adams, had been born in Iowa in 1862, but spent most of her years in Carson City, Nevada, before meeting Charles Hitchcock Adams. The Adams’s originally came from New England, but they were not related to the presidents of the same name.

Charles Adams inherited his family’s lumber business, but failed to make it profitable. A man of scrupulous integrity, he could not compete in the corrupt business climate of his day. Olive Adams resented the fact that her husband could not provide her with the standard of living she wanted, and became depressed.

The Adams’s were cultured liberals who did not belong to any organized religion. Charles Adams, in particular, was heavily influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writings. He believed strongly in the Transcendentalist ideas of individuality and direct union with God in nature, which he transmitted to young Ansel.

On a 1927 hike in Yosemite, Adams first developed his unique photographic style. For Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, Adams showed the famous granite formation in clear, sharp focus. He used a red filter to darken the sky for dramatic effect. He wrote to Virginia Best,

“In this new effect I will try to combine the processes of photography and the press into a result that will be exceptionally beautiful and unique.”

Shortly after making his unique photograph of Half Dome; Adams met Albert Bender, a San Francisco arts patron who offered to underwrite a portfolio for him. One hundred copies were produced at $50.00 each. The portfolio contained 18 prints, including Adams’s most recent photograph of Half Dome.

On March 28, 1933, Adams met Alfred Stieglitz in New York. Stieglitz was an influential curator, as well as the most highly respected photographer of his day. He was deeply impressed by Adams’s portfolio. “These,” he said, “are some of the finest photographs I have ever seen.” Stieglitz promised Adams a one-person exhibit at “An American Place,” his gallery in New Charles Adams was a very nurturing, understanding parent, who always York; the show was scheduled to open in November 1936. encouraged his son to be the individual he was. Adams later wrote, Back home in California, Adams spent the summer of 1936 hard at work in “I trace who I am and the direction of my development to those years of the darkroom, preparing for his exhibit at Stieglitz’s gallery. During this time, growing up in our house by the dunes, propelled especially by an internal he fell deeply in love with Patsy English, his young darkroom assistant. Adspark tenderly kept alive and glowing by my father.” ams wrestled between pursuing his new romantic interest and staying with Adams was a very active child, and felt restricted in school, which he found his wife and two small children. He chose the latter, because he considered it meaningless. When he was 13, his father began to tutor him at home. His father the right thing to do. But week after week ,the physical and emotional strain also made arrangements for a tutor in ancient Greek, as well as a piano teacher. of the work, and of his conflicted feelings for Patsy and Virginia, became all In 1915 Charles Adams gave his son a yearlong pass to the Panama Pa- but unbearable. cific Exposition. Adams was 13 years old, and found it stimulating. The It took months for Adams to resolve his inner anguish. In spring 1937, he repass was a wonderful idea. According to William Turnage of the Ansel turned to Yosemite with Virginia and their children. By returning to a place Adams Trust, “Ansel went every single day, and he learned more there where he had always found happiness, Adams began to recover from the crithan he ever could have in a year at school.” For the first time, young sis. By June 10, he was able to express his feelings in a letter to his closest Ansel saw modern painting and sculpture. friend, Cedric Wright.

6

Dear Cedric, A strange thing happened to me today. I saw a big thundercloud move down over Half Dome, and it was so big and clear and brilliant that it made me see many things that were drifting around inside of me; things that relate to those who are loved and those who are real friends.

For the first time I know what love is; what friends are; and what art should be.

Love is a seeking for a way of life; the way that cannot be followed alone; the resonance of all spiritual and physical things....

Friendship is another form of love -- more passive perhaps, but full of the transmitting and acceptances of things like thunderclouds and grass and the clean granite of reality.

Art is both love and friendship and understanding: the desire to give. It is not charity, which is the giving of things. It is more than kindness, which is the giving of self.

It is both the taking and giving of beauty, the turning out to the light of the inner folds of the awareness of the spirit. It is a recreation on another plane of the realities of the world; the tragic and wonderful realities of earth and men, and of all the interrelations of these.

Ansel

In the same year as his exhibit at “An American Place,” which was a huge success, Adams was asked by the Sierra Club’s board of directors to attend a conference on the national parks in Washington, D.C. He was to lobby in favor of establishing Kings Canyon as a national park. The board of directors suggested he bring some photographs.

Not only did Adams address the conference, he also met with individual lawmakers, and even with Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. Two years later, when Adams published Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail, he sent a copy to Ickes, who showed it to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt liked the book so much that he kept it for the White House. (Adams sent another copy to Ickes.) The Kings River National Park Bill finally passed in 1940.

In 1941 Ickes asked Adams to do an assignment for the Department of the Interior. Ickes wanted to decorate the headquarters’ corridors and major offices with enlarged photographic murals of scenes from the national parks. This assignment changed Adams’s style. His pictures became larger and more dramatic. Due to the outbreak of World War II, Ickes’ mural project was cancelled in 1942, and the murals were never made.

In the fall of 1943, Adams made his first visit to Manzanar, an internment camp where Japanese Americans were being held prisoners. Adams was outraged by the denial of their rights as American citizens. At the same time, he was impressed with their determination to make the best of the situation.

Adams’s photographs of Manzanar were displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Although the exhibit was placed in the basement due to scheduling conflicts, it still attracted a lot of attention. Born Free and Equal, a book on the Manzanar project, was published in late 1944. Adams blamed the war for the book’s poor-quality reproductions and lack of publicity. Despite these problems, enough people learned of the book to criticize Adams for being disloyal.

The de Young Museum in San Francisco housed an exhibit in 1963 called “The Eloquent Light.” It was a retrospective of Adams’s work from 1927-1963.

The exhibit marked a change in Adams’s career. No longer was he at the forefront of creative photography. Instead Adams became a teacher, public figure, and environmental activist.

Adams used his stature as a great photographer to promote conservation. He met with Presidents Johnson, Ford, and Carter at the White House, and was favorably impressed with all three. In 1980, President Carter awarded Adams the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Adams died on April 22, 1984, at the age of 82. Six months after his death, Congress passed legislation designating more than 200,000 acres near Yosemite as the Ansel Adams Wilderness Area. A year later, an 11,760foot mountain on the boundary of Yosemite National Park was named Mt. Ansel Adams.

7

Chapter New Mexico

1

Acoma Pueblo

New Mexico

Full side view of adobe house with water in foreground.

Acoma Pueblo Looking across street toward houses.

10

Church

Acoma Pueblo

Corner view showing mostly left wall.

Church Side wall and tower with cross.

11

New Mexico

Kings Palace Large stalagmite and stalactite formations in the King’s Chamber.

Kings Palace Formations above Green Lake, large stalagmite with draped stalactite above it. One of the principal features in the King’s Palace.

12

Formations above Green Lake, large stalagmite with draped stalactite above it. One of the principal features in the King’s Palace.

Kings Palace Formations above Green Lake, large stalagmite with draped stalactite above it. One of the principal features in the King’s Palace.

13

Carlsbad Caverns

Kings Palace

New Mexico

King’s Palace Formations and pool, large drapery formation known as the Guillatine, and the pool in the King’s Palace.

14

Carlsbad Caverns

Queens Chamber In the Queens Chamber, stalagmites and stalactites.

15

New Mexico

Queens Chamber Stalactite formations in the Queen’s Chamber, detail.

Queen’s Chamber Formations in the Queen’s Chamber, at the entrance.

16

Carlsbad Caverns

Queens Chamber Stalactite formations near entrance to the Queen’s Chamber.

Queens Chamber Formations, stalagmites in the Queen’s Chamber.

17

New Mexico

Big Room Formations in the Big Room near the Temple of the Sun.

Big Room Formations, along trail into the Big Room, beyond the Temple of the Sun.

18

Carlsbad Caverns

Big Room Formation along trail in the Big Room, near the Temple of the Sun.

Big Room The Chinese Pagoda, Big Room, detail.

19

New Mexico

Big Room Large formations or dome.

Big Room The Rock of Ages, Big Room, rock information with women, dark background.

20

Big Room

Carlsbad Caverns

The Rock of Ages in the Big Room, two people in background.

Big Room Formations along the wall of the Big Room, near Crystal Spring Home.

21

New Mexico

Carlsbad Cavern Formations, a few of many natural formations at Carlsbad Caverns

Hall of Giants Large Formation at the Hall of Giants in Carlsbad Cavern, path and rock formations, man on path.

22

Onyx drapes in the Papoose Room.

Giant Dome The Giant Dome, largest stalagmite thus far discovered. It is 16 feet in diameter and estimated to be 60 million years old.

23

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Cavern

New Mexico

Dance Dance, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, 1942, two Indians descending wooden stairs, carrying drums; another Indian and child nearby.

Dance Dance, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, 1942, indian descending wooden stairs with drum, another in background looking on.

24

Dance

San Ildefonso

Dance, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, Indians in headdress, male and female, descending stairs.

Dance Dance, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, 1942, two Indians in headdress ascending stairs to house.

25

Taos Pueblo

New Mexico

Full view of City, mountains in background.

Church Church, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, 1941, full side view of entrance with gate to the right.

26

Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo

27

Chapter Montana

2

Glacier National Park

Montana

Valley, snow covered mountains in background.

Glacier National Park Trees and bushes in foreground, mountains in background.

30

Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park

From Going-to-the-Sun Chalet, Glacier National Park, close in view of mountain side.

Glacier National Park Going-to-the-Sun Mountain, Glacier National Park, full view of mountain.

31

Glacier National Park

Montana

Mountain partially covered with clouds.

Glacier National Park In Glacier National Park, looking across forest to mountains and clouds.

32

Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park

From Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, looking across barren land to mountains.

Glacier National Park In Glacier National Park, tops of pine trees, snow covered.

33

Montana

Glacier National Park Close-up of leaves, from directly above.

34

Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park Close-up of fern, from directly above.

35

Heavens Peak

Montana

Dark foreground and clouds, mountains highlighted.

Two Medicine Lake Two Medicine Lake, Glacier National Park, high, lone mountain peak in foreground.

36

St. Mary’s Lake

Glacier National Park

Looking across toward snow-capped mountains, lake in foreground.

St. Mary’s Lake Looking across toward snow-capped mountains.

37

McDonald Lake

Montana

Evening, McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park, looking across lake toward mountains.

McDonald Lake McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park, looking across lake

38

Glacier National Park

McDonald Lake

McDonald Lake

39

Chapter California

3

California

Death Valley Looking across desert toward mountains.

42

Death Valley National Monument

Death Valley Panorama of mountains.

43

Kings River

California

From Windy Point, Middle Fork, Kings River.

Windy Point

44

Kings River Canyon

Mt. Brewer

Windy Point North palisade from Windy Point.

45

Rac Lake

California

Peak near Rac Lake.

Owens Valley Owens Valley from Sawmill Pass.

46

Woody Lake

Kings River Canyon

Peak above Woody Lake.

Paradise Valley

47

Mt. Wynne

California

Pinchot Pass.

Center Peak Center Peak, Center Basin.

48

Kings River Canyon

Bishop Pass

Junction Peak

49

Kings Region

California

Boaring River, Kings Region.

Kings River Canyon North Dome in Kings River Canyon.

50

Kings River Canyon

Fin Dome

White Pass

51

California

Grand Sentinel

Rock and Cloud

52

Kings River Canyon

White Pass

Coloseum Mountain

53

California

Mt Winchell

Windy Point North Palisades from Windy Point.

54

Kings River Canyon

Kings River Middle fork at Kings River from South Fork of Cartridge Creek.

Kings River

55

California

Rac Lake

56

Kings River Canyon

Kearsarge Pinnacles

57

California

Owens Valley Flock of Sheep

58

Owens Valley

Owens Valley Flock of sheep.

59

Chapter Wyoming

4

Grand Tetons

Montana

Snake River

Grand Tetons View from river valley towards snow covered mountains, river in foreground from left to right.

62

Grassy valley, tree covered mountain side and snow covered peaks.

Grand Tetons Grand Tetons from Signal Mountain, valley, snow capped mountains, low horizon.

63

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Tetons

Mt. Moran

Montana

View across river valley toward Mt. Moran.

Mt. Moran Mt. Moran and Jackson Lake from Signal Hill.

64

Grand Teton National Park

Jackson Lake

Grand Tetons

65

Fountain Geyser Pool

Montana

Pool in foreground steaming, high horizon.

Fountain Geyser Pool

66

Yellowstone National Park

Fountain Geyser Pool

Fountain Geyser Pool

67

Yellowstone Lake

Montana

Mt. Sheridan across Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake

68

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone National Park

Hot springs overflow at Yellowstone Lake.

Yellowstone Lake The Fishing Cone at Yellowstone Lake.

69

Yellowstone National Park

Montana

Roaring Mountain at Yellowstone National Park, barren tree trunks rising from water in foreground, steam rising from mountains behind.

Yellowstone National Park Stream at bottom, trees, snow on mountains.

70

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Firehold river, river in foreground, trees behind.

Yellowstone National Park Firehold river.

71

Montana

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone Falls.

Yellowstone National Park Central Geyser Basin, stream winding back toward geyser.

72

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Rocks at Silver Gate, boulder with hill in background.

Yellowstone National Park Jupiter Terrace, Fountain Geyser Pool.

73

Montana

Old Faithful

Old Faithful Erupting against dark sky.

74

Yellowstone National Park

Old Faithful

Old Faithful

75

Chapter Utah

5

Montana

Zion National Park Vertical of rock formation, from below.

Zion National Park Vertical of rock formation, from below.

78

Zion National Park

Court of the Patriarchs

Zion National Park Rock formation against dark sky.

79

Chapter Arizona

6

Arizona

Canyon De Chelly Panorama of valley from mountain.

82

Canyon De Chelly

Navajo Indians Woman and infant in Canyon De Chelly.

83

Arizona

Navajo Indians

Canyon De Chelly

84

Canyon De Chelly

Navajo Indians

Navajo Indians

85

Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona

Close in panorama of curred cliff.

North Rim

86

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon

Close in panorama taken from opposite of cliff formation.

North Rim

87

Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona

Panorama, dark shadows in foreground and right framing cliffs at left and center.

Grand Canyon National Park

88

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon

Canyon and ravine.

Grand Canyon National Park

89

Arizona

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park Panorama with rock formation in foreground.

90

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon

Panorama of rock formations.

Grand Canyon National Park Panorama with shrub detail in foreground.

91

Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona

Canyon edge, low horizon, clouded sky.

Grand Canyon National Park Panorama, dark shadows to right, high horizon.

92

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon

Broad panorama with detail of canyon, horizon, and mountains above.

Grand Canyon National Park Canyon with ravine winding through center, high horizon.

93

Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona

Panorama looking down.

North Rim Close view of cliff formation.

94

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon

Close in panorama looking down toward peak formations.

Grand Canyon National Park

95

Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona

Panorama with rock formation.

Grand Canyon National Park Rock formations and valley

96

Grand Canyon

South Rim Darkly shadowed canyon at left and center.

South Rim Vertical panorama with shadowed ravine.

97

Arizona

Saguaro National Monument Vertical full view fo cactus with others surrounding.

Saguaro National Monument Vertical full view of cactus and surrounding shrubs.

98

Saguaro National Monument

Saguaro National Monument

Saguaro National Monument

99

Chapter Colorado

7

Boulder Dam

Colorado

Looking across water to dam.

Boulder Dam Looking down river toward dam.

102

Boulder Dam

Boulder Dam

Looking across river to dam.

Boulder Dam Looking over top of dam, transmission wire on left, mountains in background.

103

Boulder Dam Power Unit

Colorado

Electrical wires of power unit.

Boulder Dam Close-up of transmission lines on side of cliff.

104

Transmission Lines

Boulder Dam

Transmission lines in Mojave Desert.

Boulder Dam Closes-up of transmission lines.

105

Colorado

Boulder Dam Vertical close-up of section of the dam.

Boulder Dam Power Units Vertical looking at wires.

106

Vertical of side of cliff with transmission lines above, river to left.

Boulder Dam Close-up of transmission line on side of cliff, dam and river in foreground.

107

Boulder Dam

Boulder Dam

Colorado

Cliff Palace

108

Mesa Verde National Park

Cliff Palace Section of house.

109

Colorado

Cliff Palace

Cliff Palace

110

Mesa Verde National Park

Cliff Palace

Cliff Palace

111

Longs Peak

Colorado

Long’s Peak from road. Panorama of trees and snowcapped mountains.

Longs Peak Long’s Peak from north. Trees in foreground, snow covered mountain in background.

112

Longs Peak

Rocky Mountain National Park

Close in panorama, dark shadowed hills in foreground, mountains in background.

Longs Peak Panorams of barren mountains with snow.

113

Rocky Mountain National Park

Colorado

Never Summer Range, panorama at timberline, dark foreground, light snow capped mountain, gray sky.

Rocky Mountain National Park Valley surrounded by mountains.

114

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park

Mountain tops. low horizon, dramatic clouded sky.

Rocky Mountain National Park

115

Rocky Mountain National Park

Colorado

Panorama of hills and mountains.

Rocky Mountain National Park Full view of barren mountain side with snow.

116

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park

Panorama of hill with trees, clouded sky.

Rocky Mountain National Park Lake and trees in foreground, mountains and clouds in background.

117

Rocky Mountain National Park

Colorado

Panorama of wooded hills with mountains in background.

Rocky Mountain National Park Mountain tops, low horizon, low hanging clouds.

118

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park

Moraine, rock formation.

Longs Peak Panorama of plateau, snow covered mountain in background.

119

All images have all been cropped and resized to fit.

The original images can be found at http://www.archives.gov/research/ansel-adams/ Ansel Adams Bio can be located at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/peopleevents/p_aadams.html