Dayton Art Institute
Dayton, OH
800.296.4426 or 937.223.5277
www.daytonartinstitute.org
In Praise of Nature: Ansel Adams and Photographers
of the American West
Billowing clouds enshrouding mountain tops, towering pines shading
wildflowers, jagged cliffs overlooking deep canyons--these are images of
the American West, which has been a source of inspiration for photographers
since they first ventured west of the Mississippi. Tracing the American
photographers' journey west from 1860 to 1960, In Praise of Nature: Ansel
Adams and Photographers of the American West, a nationally touring exhibition
organized by The Dayton Art Institute and presented by National City and
WHIO-Channel 7, will open to the public in Dayton, Ohio on October 30, 1999
and run through January 2, 2000. (left: John Hillers (1843-1925),
Marble Pinnacle, Kanab Canyon, 1872, albumen print, 13 x 9 3/4 inches,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
Showcasing more than 150 rare photographs of America's
rugged, natural beauty, this breathtaking exhibition 
includes more than 70 works by Ansel Adams and offers
new appreciation for one of photography' s greatest masters by placing his
work in the context of 100 years of photography by his predecessors and
contemporaries. In addition to Adams, the exhibition showcases works by
25 other noted photographers, including Carleton E. Watkins, Timothy O'Sullivan,
George Fiske, William Henry Jackson, Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston.
Also of note, In Praise of Nature: Ansel Adams and Photographers of the
American West features a significant number of vintage prints, which
are works printed by the artist at the time the image was created.
(right: Sonya Noskowiak (1900-1973), White Radishes, c. 1933, vintage
gelatin silver print, Courtesy of Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco)
"Ansel Adams was a genius with a camera and technical
genius in the dark room," said Alexander Lee Nyerges, director of the
Art Institute and curator of In Praise of Nature: Ansel Adams and Photographers
of the American West. "His landscapes were operatic in composition,
complete with lighting, tragedy and drama--luring those who viewed his works
to seek Nature and capture the spirit of the wilderness." One of the
most recognized and admired photographers of the 20th century, Adams' keen
artistic vision and technical proficiency became a foundation for a highly
successful 70-year career, which produced more than 40,000 negatives, 10,000
fine prints, 500 international exhibitions and numerous books.
Not
only will visitors have the opportunity to view many of Adams' well-loved
classic, monumental views of the American West, such as White House Ruin,
Canyon de Chelly and Winter Sunrise, but In Praise of Nature:
Ansel Adams and Photographers of the American West also features his
more intimate, 
less-often-seen
images of cacti and oaks. Additionally, the exhibition highlights his friend
and colleague Edward Weston, considered by many photography scholars to
have been the greatest photographer ever to live. Adams and Weston are compared
and contrasted in their approaches to style and subject matter. (left:
Edward Weston (1886-1958), Eel River Ranch, 1937, gelatin silver
print,7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 40.15.11;
right: Edward Weston (1886-1958), Juniper, Sierra Nevada, 1937, vintage
gelatin silver print,7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches, Los Angeles County Museum of
Art, 46.23.4)
Through In Praise of Nature: Ansel Adams and Photographers
of the American West, museum visitors also will gain an unprecedented
view of Nature's profound spiritual influence on photographers working in
the American West between 1860 and 1960. A believer in the transcendentalist
philosophy espoused by 19th century writers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry
David Thoreau that religion and truth are found in Nature, Adams and his
contemporaries strove to represent this spirituality in their work. Adams
wrote that natural wonders "...have been approached with a reverential
lens" and for the viewer of his photographs, he hoped the grandeur
and intimacies of Nature would "encourage [one] to seek for himself
the inexhaustible sources of beauty in the natural world around him."
In addition to shedding new light on Adams' inspirations
and presenting his work in the context of early photographers of the West
and of his contemporaries who carried on this great tradition, In Praise
of Nature: Ansel Adams and Photographers of the American West traces
the evolution of photography as an art form through depictions of Nature.
In the mid-1800s when photography was in its infancy, aspiring photographers
created a documentary of American life in the early West, depicting cities,
haciendas, missions and Native Americans--many of which are now lost images.
In the 1860s during the Civil War, Americans looked West for salvation,
inspiration and hope and photographers found these qualities in Nature.
At the turn of the century, they continued to use their art to preserve
the boundless wilderness, which was no longer a frontier but an outlet for
urban and economic growth. It was photographs by Carleton Watkins and William
Henry Jackson that convinced Congress to protect these regions as national
parks for generations to come. In particular, Ansel Adams became an active
proponent of conservation through the Sierra Club.
In the early 1900s, photographs were Pictorialist in style,
or created in soft-focus to mimic more romantic and impressionistic mediums.
As Modernism enveloped the art world and industrialization overtook the
nation, preservation of the West's natural beauty remained a driving force
behind many photographers' work. In the 1930s, creative photography pioneers
such as Paul Strand and Alfred Stieglitz created images in sharp focus,
with a greater degree of abstraction and contrast. Through the work of Stieglitz,
Strand and Group f/64, which Adams founded along with Weston and Cunningham
in San Francisco, photography gained acceptance as an expressive art by
the middle of the 20th century.
Brief Biographies of Selected Artists in the Exhibition
Ansel
Easton Adams (1902-1984) Born in 1902 in San Francisco, Ansel Adams was
an aspiring musician, conservationist, political activist, teacher and above
all--a photographer. One of the most well-recognized and admired photographers
of the 20th century, Adams' keen artistic vision and technical proficiency
became a foundation for a highly successful 70-year career, which produced
more than 40,000 negatives, 10,000 fine prints, 500 international exhibitions
and numerous books. (left: Ansel Adams (1902-1984), Oak Tree,
Sunset City, Sierra Foothills, California, 1962, vintage silver print,
1962, Used with permission of The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust)
In
1916, at the age of 14, upon reading J.M. Hutchins' In the Heart of the
Sierras, Adams convinced his family to vacation in Yosemite National
Park, which he photographed with his first camera, a Kodak #1 Box Brownie.
Greatly inspired by the park's natural beauty, Adams would return there
nearly every year of his life. Adams' father with whom he shared an interest
in photography, an Emersonian ideal of self-reliance and an intense connection
with Nature--encouraged Adams to develop his creativity through a non-traditional
classroom the Panama-Pacific International Exposition--where Adams viewed
works by Cézanne, Gaugin, Monet, Picasso and Braque. During the same
time, Adams taught himself to play the piano and further developed his musical
talent through private lessons. (left: Ansel Adams (1902-1984),
Dunes, Oceano, 1962, vintage silver print, 1963, Center for Creative
Photography, 84.092.232, Used with permission of The Ansel Adams Publishing
Rights Trust)
Upon graduation, Adams worked in a photo-finishing lab
while fine-tuning his musical and artistic skills. From the 
beginning,
Adams strove for perfection. He would wait hours for the ideal light and
paid great attention to the composition of his photographs. After enjoying
several wilderness trips and becoming the custodian for the Sierra Club's
headquarters at Yosemite, Adams studied mountain photography, in particular
the contrast between dark and light in the winter. While his early photographs
were in a soft-focus, impressionistic style, Adams quickly turned to creating
sharp, defined images. He fully believed photography was not objective,
but interpretive and artistic, as it boasted so many variables, including
composition, lens, filter, light and film. One of Adams' remarkable talents
was his ability to visualize all these components and the final product
before he created the photograph. (right: Ansel Adams (1902-1984),
White House Ruin, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, 1962,
gelatin silver print, CORBIS/Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust)
A
trip to the Southwest in 1927 proved to be a turning point in Adams' career.
There, he became enamored with the region's natural beauty and met photographer
Paul Strand, who convinced him photography could truly be a form of artistic
expression. In 1930, Adams' portfolio of the Taos Pueblo was published in
an edition of 100 books and led him to chose a career in photography over
music. Returning to San Francisco with his new wife, Virginia Best, Adams
grudgingly pursued commercial clients in order to make a living, but remained
faithful to his artistic vision of black and white photography. While completing
projects for Pacific Gas & Electric, American Telephone & Telegraph,
Hills Brothers Coffee and Eastman-Kodak, Adams became an integral part of
San Francisco's growing art scene. Along with Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham
and other contemporaries, Adams formed Group f/64 to help advance photography
as an art form. Named after the smallest aperture possible, which provides
the greatest depth of field and maximum sharpness, Group f/64 promoted "pure"
photography. Believing photography should not be used to imitate other art
forms, they created images in sharp focus on glossy paper. During this time,
Adams remained true to nature and conservation as a cause. As a member of
the Sierra Club's board of directors, he lobbied Congress to create a new
national park in Kings River Canyon, California. (left: Ansel Adams
(1902-1984), Winter Sunrise, The Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine, 1944,
vintage silver print, Oakland Museum of California A65.126.1, Used with
permission of The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust)
In New York City, art photography was gaining a dedicated
following with the assistance of acclaimed photographer Alfred Stieglitz.
In 1936, Stieglitz agreed to show Adams' work in his gallery, An American
Place, a decision that boosted Adams' confidence in expressing himself
through photography. Co-founded by Adams, Beaumont Newhall and David McAlpin,
the creation of a photography department at New York's Museum of Modern
Art in 1940 affirmed Group f/64's vision and gave the art form growing credibility.
Also in 1940, Adams began teaching photography at the Art
Center School in Los Angeles, where he developed the Zone System for producing
a technically proficient photograph. The system divides the range of light
into 11 different zones, from total black to pure white, with which the
photographer can determine and create different tones in a final print based
on the subject's range of contrast. Adams thoroughly enjoyed teaching and
would continue sharing his knowledge throughout his life.
As
World War II escalated, Adams contributed to the war effort by escorting
troops in Yosemite Valley, teaching practical photography at Fort Ord and
developing top-secret negatives of Japanese military installations. In 1943,
he visited the Manzanar War Relocation Camp and documented the strength
and courage of imprisoned Japanese-Americans, later published in his book
Born Free & Equal. During this time of burden and despair across
America, Adams' work embodied an almost heroic quality with images of hope,
promise and optimism. As the official photographer of the Mural Project,
Adams was commissioned by the U.S. government to document Indian reservations,
national parks and other facilities under control of the Interior Department.
(left: Ansel Adams (1902-1984), The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton
National Park, Wyoming, 1942, vintage silver print, Center for Creative
Photography, 84.092.190)
After the war, two Guggenheim Fellowships allowed Adams
to travel and photograph the West's final frontier--Alaska. Once again,
Adams was enraptured with the wild, untamed beauty. In comparison, Yosemite
seemed on the verge of becoming over-developed and Adams recommitted himself
to preservation of America's West. Returning to Yosemite, he held Ansel
Adams Workshops there every summer from 1955 to 1981, sharing his appreciation
of Nature and artistic skill with thousands of students. To enhance the
image of the park he loved, Best's Studio, where he met his wife Virginia
Best and which he later later operated in Yosemite, offered Yosemite Special
Edition Prints as a high-quality alternative to cheap tourist souvenirs.
Thousands of 8 x 10-inch prints were sold.
Throughout his life, Adams remained active and committed
to his discipline. From the 1960s to his death in 1984, he continued to
teach, publish books and arrange exhibitions. In 1966, he spearheaded the
formation of The Friends of Photography, a non-profit organization dedicated
to the advancement of creative photography. He personally lobbied presidents
Ford, Carter and Reagan to respect and conserve the environment. In his
later years, Adams received numerous awards and honors, including the Presidential
Medal of Freedom, the Hasselblad Medal, an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
degree from Harvard University, and the French Legion of Merit. Today, his
legacy continues through his work and influence on one of the world's newest
art farms--photography.
Imogen
Cunningham (1883-1976) Born in Oregon and raised in Seattle, Imogen Cunningham
is one of the most enduring 20th century photographers of the American West.
From 1907 to 1909, she worked in the studio of Edward S. Curtis, whose volumes
on the American Indian were well-known in photography circles. She then
established a studio in Seattle and specialized in portraiture, yet still
created a substantial body of Pictorialist - inspired landscape work. Her
work in the 1920s contrasts with her earlier Pictorialist photographs. Adopting
the tenants of Modernism, she concentrated on creating striking images drawn
from the natural scene. In 1932, Imogen Cunningham was one of the founding
members of the short-lived Group f/64 along with Weston and Adams. Her long
and active career continued into her 90s until her death in San Francisco
in 1976. (left: Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976), Exploding Bud,
c. 1920, vintage platinum print, The Dayton Art Institute, 1973.26)
George Fiske (1835-1918) Born in 1835 on his family's farm
in New Hampshire, Fiske followed his brother 
west to San Francisco to work in the banking business.
There, he apprenticed with Robert Vance and Charles Leander Weed, Yosemite's
first photographer, and worked as an assistant to Carleton Watkins and Thomas
Houseworth. Following a brief departure from photography, Fiske and his
wife moved to Yosemite in 1879, where they lived year-round for most of
the remainder of their lives. At the time of Ansel Adams' first visit to
Yosemite in 1916, the aged Fiske was concluding a nearly 40-year career
of living and working in the Yosemite Valley, making a steady living from
his series of photographs. (right: George Fiske (1835-1918), Agassiz
Column near Union Point, 1885, albumen print, The National Museum of
Natural History)
Timothy O'Sullivan (1840-1882) Born in Ireland, the O'Sullivan
family immigrated to America when Timothy was only two years old. As a young
boy, he worked for Mathew Brady, the great portraitist and Civil War entrepreneur.
After the war, O'Sullivan traveled west and joined Clarence King's Geological
Survey of the Fortieth Parallel in 1867. O'Sullivan returned to Washington,
D.C. to pursue his photographic career and was appointed photographer of
the Treasury Department in 1880. Unfortunately, his career and life were
cut short by tuberculosis.
Additional support for the exhibition is provided by The
Reynolds & Reynolds Company, MOTOPHOTO, Mrs. Mary Mikesell Mapp and
the Dayton Marriott; special assistance was received from The Ansel Adams
Publishing Rights Trust. Admission will be charged for this exhibition.
Read more about the Dayton
Art Institute in the Resource Library
For further biographical information on selected artists
cited in this article please see America's
Distinguished Artists, a national registry of historic artists.
rev. 11/1/10
Search Resource
Library for thousands of articles and essays on American art.
Copyright 2010 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights
reserved.
Billowing clouds enshrouding mountain tops, towering pines shading
wildflowers, jagged cliffs overlooking deep canyons--these are images of
the American West, which has been a source of inspiration for photographers
since they first ventured west of the Mississippi. Tracing the American
photographers' journey west from 1860 to 1960, In Praise of Nature: Ansel
Adams and Photographers of the American West, a nationally touring exhibition
organized by The Dayton Art Institute and presented by National City and
WHIO-Channel 7, will open to the public in Dayton, Ohio on October 30, 1999
and run through January 2, 2000. (left: John Hillers (1843-1925),
Marble Pinnacle, Kanab Canyon, 1872, albumen print, 13 x 9 3/4 inches,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
