Lot Essay
John Szarkowski, the influential Photography Director at MoMA, New York from 1962 to 1991, considered this early image to be one of the finest of Adams' career.
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On the long trek from Giant Forest over Kaweah Gap the trail passes Precipice Lake...The Lake was partially frozen and snowbanks rested in the recesses of the cliffs. I was impressed with the solemn beauty of the scene and saw the image quite clearly in my mind.
Many speak of the image as abstract, but I was not conscious of any such definition at the time...For photographic compositions I think in terms of creating configurations out of chaos, rather than following any conventional rules of composition.
ANSEL ADAMS (1902-1984)
Frozen Lake and Cliffs, Kaweah Gap, Sequoia National Park, 1927
Details
ANSEL ADAMS (1902-1984)
Frozen Lake and Cliffs, Kaweah Gap, Sequoia National Park, 1927
gelatin silver print, printed 1970s
signed in pencil (on the mount); titled in ink and Carmel credit stamp (on the reverse of the mount)
image/sheet: 10 x 13in. (25.4 x 33cm.)
mount: 16 x 22in. (40.6 x 55.9cm.)
Frozen Lake and Cliffs, Kaweah Gap, Sequoia National Park, 1927
gelatin silver print, printed 1970s
signed in pencil (on the mount); titled in ink and Carmel credit stamp (on the reverse of the mount)
image/sheet: 10 x 13in. (25.4 x 33cm.)
mount: 16 x 22in. (40.6 x 55.9cm.)
Provenance
With Weston Gallery, Carmel
Literature
Newhall, Ansel Adams: The Eloquent Light, Sierra Club, 1963, pp. 168-169; Adams, Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs, Little, Brown and Company, 1983, p. 10; Alinder, ed., Ansel Adams: 1902-1984, Friends of Photography, Untitled 37, 1984, p. 12; Adams, Yosemite and the Range of Light, Little, Brown and Company, 1992, pl. 27; Szarkowski, Ansel Adams at 100, Little, Brown and Company, 2001, pl. 32; Stillman, ed. Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs, Little, Brown and Company, 2007, p. 93; Stillman, ed. Ansel Adams in the National Parks, Little, Brown and Company, 2010, p. 10; Stillman, Looking at Ansel Adams: The Photographs and the Man, Little, Brown and Company, 2012, p. 71
Sale room notice
Please note that the dimensions are as follows -- image, 10 x 13in. (25.4 x 33cm.) and mount, 16 x 22in. (40.6 x 55.9cm.)
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