ANSEL
ADAMS
THE COMPLETE
MUSEUM SET
Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was the preeminent 20th century American photographer of
landscape, and a founder member of the influential Group f.64 (later f/64), which included such Bay Area luminaries as Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham. Formed in reaction to what they perceived as the excesses of Pictorialism, the members looked to a modernist
aesthetic. Their rigorous compositions were based in large part on found objects and the rugged landscapes of the American West. Adams exemplifies this tendency; his 1932
masterpiece Rose and Driftwood exhibits the clarity of vision and technical excellence that are among his hallmarks. Born in San Francisco, he had deep affection for Yosemite,
whose rugged beauty inspired many of his most iconic photographs, such as the 1927
Monolith, the Face of Half Dome. Underlying most of his work from the 1930s on was his Zone System, which emphasizes careful visualization of the subject, meticulous metering of exposure, and (through his zonal scale) precision in the capturing the full tonal ranges of both negative and print. Adams’ body of work is remarkable for both its quality and quantity, and the Museum Set contains all of his works that he judged major.
THE COMPLETE MUSEUM SET Prepared several years before Adams’ death, this Museum Set of seventy-five images is the most comprehensive known to exist. Such sets more typically consist of between twenty-five and fifty images. The Museum Sets contain as their nucleus ten of the most famous Adams images, including Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico 1941; Mt. Williamson from Manzanar; Aspens, Northern New Mexico; Winter Sunrise;
38 DOYLE • DECEMBER 14, 2017 • NEW YORK
Monolith; Clearing Winter Storm; Sand Dune, Sunrise; Tenaya Creek, Dogwood, Rain; The Tetons and Snake River and Frozen Lake and Cliffs. There were a further sixty possible prints that could be purchased as part of a set. Those few who purchased all seventy received five additional prints, the 1940 Surf Sequence. The present Set is thus the most complete obtainable.
Spanning Adams’ entire career, this Museum Set includes all the artist’s best-known work, in prints of scrupulous quality prepared in Adams’ workshop under his direct supervision and signed by him. It was acquired by a private collector from Adams in the 1980s, was gifted to The College of New Rochelle in 2012, and is now offered for sale as a series of lots on their behalf. Doyle is delighted to make this unparalleled offering.