Lot Essay
Aspens, New Mexico was exhibited in Nancy Newhall's homage to Adams, The Eloquent Light. In the catalogue essay she brings a lyrical side to Adams' work ethic, describing the experience of working and camping with the legendary photographer. It is tempting to believe she had this image in mind when she wrote, "Suddenly - always it is suddenly, no matter how well you know the road - you round a corner or top a rise and some miraculous place lies before you. Perhaps the little road through the whisper and shimmer of pines and aspens bumps to an end at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and from that terrible edge, you look down on the island towers, already glowing like embers, shouldering up through mists and storms from the river running like quicksilver on the dark rocks far below". (op. cit., p. 16)
The print offered here was a gift from the photographer to the present owner, a personal friend, at the time of the exhibition.
The print offered here was a gift from the photographer to the present owner, a personal friend, at the time of the exhibition.