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Lot Essay
Carleton E. Watkins arrived in California in his early 20's and after a brief stay in Sacramento, moved to San Francisco where he apprenticed with Robert Vance, the daguerreotypist. By the late 1850s, Watkins was already established as a photographer of local mining projects and architectural development in and around San Francisco.
Watkins' first great opportunity came in 1861, when he traveled to Yosemite and was able to make a series of thirty mammoth plate views of the valley. This work brought him his first critical and commercial success. Watkins' views of the valley from the 1860s were some of the first to ever be seen of the area. In 1865-66, Watkins returned to Yosemite with the California State Geological Survey. On this trip he produced negatives for J.D. Whitney's "Yosemite Book". In 1868, two-hundred and fifty copies of Whitney's book were published and included 28 original prints of Watkins' Yosemite views.
In 1867, Watkins was awarded a bronze medal at the Paris International Exposition. In this same year he made his first trip to photograph Oregon and the Columbia River. In 1869, Watkins began production of his "Yosemite Gallery" albums. In addition, he undertook a large project of stereograph production from his and other photographers' negatives. Throughout his photographic career Watkins' pursued commercial and journalistic work, making images for local magazines and newspapers.
Drawing from his large body of work made during his early trips to Yosemite, Oregon and the Columbia River, and the new negatives he made of these areas during the eight years following his initial 1867 trip to Oregon, Watkins produced work from the series "Pacific Coast Views". He continued to build on this inventory of images until 1876 when, due to financial difficulties, he lost the majority of these negatives to a competitor.
After this significant loss, Watkins set about to rephotograph many of the sites he had recorded in the 1860s-70s. He spent much of the next ten years traveling throughout California, Oregon, Washington Territory, Nevada, Arizona and along the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1878, he again began to produce images as "Watkins's New Series," which were constantly added to like the "Pacific Coast Views".
This and the following 9 lots are leaves from a mammoth plate album entitled America 1883, purchased by Roberta M. Ng in 1982. At the time, Mrs. Ng was an artist and Americana dealer in Washington. The album contained some twenty images by Watkins as well as several leaves containing scenic, urban and architectural studies by various photographers.
See: Christie's, New York, 6 October 1998, lots 111-122 for other leaves sold from this same album.
Watkins' first great opportunity came in 1861, when he traveled to Yosemite and was able to make a series of thirty mammoth plate views of the valley. This work brought him his first critical and commercial success. Watkins' views of the valley from the 1860s were some of the first to ever be seen of the area. In 1865-66, Watkins returned to Yosemite with the California State Geological Survey. On this trip he produced negatives for J.D. Whitney's "Yosemite Book". In 1868, two-hundred and fifty copies of Whitney's book were published and included 28 original prints of Watkins' Yosemite views.
In 1867, Watkins was awarded a bronze medal at the Paris International Exposition. In this same year he made his first trip to photograph Oregon and the Columbia River. In 1869, Watkins began production of his "Yosemite Gallery" albums. In addition, he undertook a large project of stereograph production from his and other photographers' negatives. Throughout his photographic career Watkins' pursued commercial and journalistic work, making images for local magazines and newspapers.
Drawing from his large body of work made during his early trips to Yosemite, Oregon and the Columbia River, and the new negatives he made of these areas during the eight years following his initial 1867 trip to Oregon, Watkins produced work from the series "Pacific Coast Views". He continued to build on this inventory of images until 1876 when, due to financial difficulties, he lost the majority of these negatives to a competitor.
After this significant loss, Watkins set about to rephotograph many of the sites he had recorded in the 1860s-70s. He spent much of the next ten years traveling throughout California, Oregon, Washington Territory, Nevada, Arizona and along the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1878, he again began to produce images as "Watkins's New Series," which were constantly added to like the "Pacific Coast Views".
This and the following 9 lots are leaves from a mammoth plate album entitled America 1883, purchased by Roberta M. Ng in 1982. At the time, Mrs. Ng was an artist and Americana dealer in Washington. The album contained some twenty images by Watkins as well as several leaves containing scenic, urban and architectural studies by various photographers.
See: Christie's, New York, 6 October 1998, lots 111-122 for other leaves sold from this same album.