Lot 56
Ansel Adams
American, 1902-1984
'Aspens, Northern New Mexico' (Horizontal), 1958
Gelatin silver mural print
Flush-mounted on board, matted and framed.
40 x 52 in. (101.6 x 132.1 cm.), Frame: 50 x 62 in. (127 x 157.5 cm.)
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Provenance:
Gifted directly from the artist to Sigurd F. Olson, 1967;
donated by the above to Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, Northland College, June 1981.
Lot Essay:
It was happenstance that Ansel Adams discovered a striking grove of aspens from the roadside on a drive from Arizona back to Yosemite Valley. Not unfamiliar with nature's seduction, he instantly knew the wonder of what he had stumbled upon. The striking golden leaves initiated a brief internal debate to capture these brilliant autumn hues in color; but Adams instead opted for black-and-white exposure. The result was captivating, sharply accentuating these narrow trees with the most sincere consideration of forest shadows and striking light. Strong in contrast, bold with an echoing depth; the image is described by Adams as not "pretty" but "cool and aloof and rather stately" ("Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs", Ansel Adams, 1983). Only two negatives were developed from this scene – one of vertical composition and this one, a magnificent expansive horizontal.
At an impressive 40 x 52 inches, the present lot is the first of this image at this size to come to market in the past 25 years; and one of less than twelve believed to exist. Few photographers were compelled to tackle the technical challenges of mural size production in the first half of the twentieth century. Adams, however, established trailblazing success with printing in larger sizes. He possessed not only the forethought necessary to understand the effect had on a viewer when experiencing a photograph on a larger scale; but also, the technical precision necessary to successfully execute such an image. Though Adams was enthusiastically proficient in the subject, large prints were nevertheless costly and time-consuming, making prints such as this one incredibly rare.
This specific print of Aspens, Northern New Mexico was gifted from Ansel Adams to Sigurd F. Olson, one of America's most recognized nature writers and influential conservationists of the twentieth century. In 1967, Olson received the John Muir Award from the Sierra Club. He travelled to San Francisco to receive the award and was personally presented with the present photograph in a following trip to Adams' home, "where [they] had a very pleasant visit." (Northland College press release, June 1981). Significantly involved in the Sierra Club, Ansel Adams was himself a previous recipient of the John Muir Award in 1963 and served as the organization's Director from 1934-1971. This magnificent gift was known to have hung in Olson's home for many years until he donated the work in 1981 to Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, to grace the walls of the Sigurd F. Olson Environmental Institute, founded in his honor in 1971. Sigurd F. Olson believed that wilderness was not a luxury but essential to the human spirit, a sentiment wholly captured in this entrancing photograph, captured and gifted from a man of similar fortitude. - Dimensions: 40 x 52 in. (101.6 x 132.1 cm.), Frame: 50 x 62 in. (127 x 157.5 cm.)
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Literature:
John Szarkowski, Ansel Adams at 100, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 2001, pl. 105.
Andrea Stillman (ed.), Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 2007, cover and p. 375.
Ansel Adams, Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 2007, p. 61.
Andrea Stillman, Looking at Ansel Adams: The Photographs and the Man, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 2012, p. 198. - Medium: Gelatin silver mural print
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Condition:
Professionally treated by a conservator in 2008. Further information provided upon request.
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