ANSEL ADAMS 1902 1984 Oaktree Snowstorm Yosemite Valley

Sale 2594 - Lot 54

Price Realized: $ 25,000

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 20,000 - $ 30,000

ANSEL ADAMS (1902-1984)
Oaktree, Snowstorm, Yosemite Valley. Silver print, the image measuring 9 1/4x7 3/8 inches (23.5x18.7 cm.), the mount 18x14 inches (45.7x35.6 cm.), with Adams' signature, in pencil, on mount recto, and his signature and the notation "For Portfolio I," also in pencil, on mount verso. 1948

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Additional Details

Acquired from the Alinder Gallery, Gualala, California by the Present Owner in 2020.

This exceptional and rare example of Oaktree, Snowstorm, Yosemite Valley is the same size as Adams' Portfolio I prints, and is mounted on the same board. It does not, however, bear a portfolio stamp or number, and is believed to be designated by Adams as the standard for all prints made for that first portfolio.

Ansel Adams' love for nature as well as his absolute technical mastery of photography are both on full display in this elegant portrait of a snow-covered oak tree in Yosemite. Devoted to the American landscape—and specifically Yosemite, Sierra, and the Southwest—Adams was both a lifelong documenter and protector of the places he worked. He is perhaps most identified with scenes like this one, which render the natural world in both very specific, perfectly rendered detail, and present an overall majesty replete with drama and wonder. Here, the enormous tree stands draped in morning snow, large cliffs just faintly visible behind. It is quiet, the tree a sentry, a solitary giant. But on close inspection, the print reveals extraordinarily fine detail, a triumph of printing that is both incredible and perhaps an act of love.