mural-sized, flush-mounted to Homasote board, framed, 1958, printed before 1968 

Acquired from the photographer, late 1960s

Sotheby's New York, 26 April 2001🥂, Sale 7633, Lot 90

John Szarkowski, The Portfolios of Ansel Adams (Boston, 1977), p. 72

Ansel Adams: Yosemite and the Range of Light (Boston, 1979), pl. 78

James Alinder and John Szarkowski, Ansel Adams: Classic Images (Boston, 1985), pl. 56

Andrea G. Stillman, ed., Yosemite: Ansel Adams (Boston, 1995), pl. 80

Andrea G. Stillman, Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs (Boston, 2007), p. 351

This impressive mural-sized print, with a pleasingly slightly warm tonality, is in generally excellent condition. Upon very close examination when the print is unframed, there is a 17-1/2-inch linear crease running parallel to the extreme right edge of the print, which for the most part does not appear to break the emulsion. There is some general wear and rubbing to the edges, with some occasional minor chipping and white deposits. None of the aforementioned is visible when viewing the photograph in its framed presentation. The reverse of the Homasote mount is appropriately age-darkened, and the outline of a previous frame is visible. There are 2 labels on the reverse, one with '7633 90' typed and the other with 'CAA- SB- 001' in ink.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Ansel Adams’s introduction to Yosemite Valley came in 1916, the year he was given his first camera.  He was immediately inspired by the vast bodies of water, towering trees, and magnificent cliffs, and he returned with his camera year after year.  Adams acknowledged that photographs could not fully express Yosemite’s splendor.  Reflecting later on his first visit to the Valley, Adams wrote, ‘the absolutely pure air and clean drawn wind and the glowing sunrise on these warm-toned peaks, and the sound of the river and the waterfall – the thing created an impact which was quite overpowering.  I’ve never been able to put that particular experience in a photograph because it was so complex’ (Yosemite and the High Sierra, p. 125).

Adams’s first foray into making mural-sized prints was in 1935 when the Yosemite Park & Curry Company asked him to undertake a series of murals of Yosemite for the San Diego Exposition of that year.  Fascinated by the technical challenges of making these large scale prints, Adams posited, ‘Apart from optical and technical considerations, the size of the photograph has an expressive relationship with the subject – no matter under what conditions of display it is seen.  The subject itself is not an important factor in the determination of the best size of print . . . It is, rather the textural and compositional aspects of the photograph that determine the scale of the finished print’ (‘Photo-Murals,’ U. S. Camera, Vol. 12, 1940, pp. 52-3).  Adams became an accomplished photo-muralist in the ensuing ✅years, making mural and large-format photo-screens for a variety of clients, well into the 1960s.

Mural-sized prints of Siesta Lake are rare.  When this photograph was acquired from the photographer in the 1960s, Adams stated that he had made only three prints of this image in this size.  Only one other mural-sized print of this image is believed to have beeꦍn offere꧋d at auction: a print from the Polaroid Collection sold in these rooms in June 2010.