Art and Artists

D.C exhibit showcases other angles of Ansel Adams

AUTHOR: Chuck Myers

Spectacular views of Yosemite Valley by legendary photographer Ansel Adams (1902-1984) have appeared on countless postcards, posters and prints, and graced the collections of numerous public art institutions."Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico"

But Adams hardly limited his photographic efforts to Yosemite and Sierra Nevada range.

And, as an exhibition at Corcoran Gallery of Art reveals, his subject matter varied greatly too.

"Ansel Adams" features approximately 125 photographs, drawn principally from The Lane Collection, the largest private holding of works by the artist. The exhibit contains many familiar and some rarely seen photographs produced by Adams over six decades.

Born in San Francisco, Adams studied to become a classical pianist. But after visiting Yosemite National Park in 1916, he found his calling with photography.

Early works on display include his majestic "The Sentinel, Yosemite National Park" (1923), which became part of his first major photo portfolio.

Two views of his "Monolith - The Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park" (1927) nearby provide an example of how Adams reprinted many of his images over time to exact a more complete tonal richness. The initial print possesses a luminous red glow, while the second photograph, produced many years later, bears evidence of cropping at the top - imposed by damage to the negative caused by a darkroom fire in 1937.

Adams' creative outlook was shaped, in part, by his participation in Group f/64, which he formed with other West Coast photographers in 1932. The short-lived group promoted a sharp-focus, realism approach to photography.

During this period, Adams explored photography on a more intimate scale. His "Rose on Driftwood, San Francisco" (c. 1932), for instance, contrasts the flower's smooth, rolling form against the driftwood's terraced-like surface. The scene of classical bronze and marble sculptures packed tightly in "Museum Storeroom, De Young Museum, San Francisco" (c.1935) assumes a forest-like character.

A sardonic sense of humor also crops up occasionally in Adams' photographs. His image of a weathered female sculpture standing against a backdrop of grimy oil derricks in Long Beach, Calif., from 1939, conveys a biting, yet decidedly regretful air.

Although the display details Adams' diverse creative interests and output, views of Yosemite are never far off.

Violent weather and the dramatic landscape collide in his spellbinding "Thunderstorm over North Palisades, Sierra Nevada, California" (1933).

Conversely, his "Pine Forest in Snow, Yosemite National Park" (c. 1932) has a more passive, serene tone.

A selection of portraits offers another side of Adams' endeavors. A portrait of Charis Wilson, one-time assistant and love interest of photographer Edward Weston, hangs adjacent to a shot of Weston at work in "Edward Weston, Lake Tenaya, Yosemite National Park" (1937).

Buy this Ansel Adams print

A suite of four works early in the show focuses on Pueblo Indians in New Mexico in 1929 underscore Adams' extensive travels beyond the Sierra Nevada. His sublime "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico" (1941) and a portrait of his friend, artist Georgia O'Keeffe, sharing a light moment with wrangler Orville Cox from 1937, highlight a group of his works from later visits to the Southwest.

In Utah, Adams captured a pointed shadow and highlight division that lent itself beautifully to an abstract result in his "Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah" (c. 1941). During a trip to Alaska in 1948, fickle weather conditions often inhibited Adams' efforts. Yet, on one outing, he did manage to shoot a brilliant sunrise striking "Mount McKinley and Wonder Lake, Alaska" (1948).

On a return visit to Utah in 1958, Adams created a unique self-portrait, showing his shadow cast against a fissure-scarred stone surface. In it, he stands aside his large format camera, with his left arm raised like an omnipotent sorcerer conjuring up a fierce tempest.

The later images on view speak as much to landscape of the artistic soul as they do to natural grandeur.

A spiritual awareness underscores his "Crosses, Mono Lake Cemetery, California" (c. 1960), while the devout tenor echoes with a more playful pitch in his "Spiritual America, Horns and Belfry, Foothills, Sierra Nevada, California" (c. 1966).

But there's no mistaking the special connection between artist and subject that instills the exhibit's final picture - his iconic "Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park" (1960).

Generally considered his last great photograph of Yosemite, the piece offers an enduring tribute to the one realm that Adams felt his deepest bond.

"Ansel Adams" remains on view through Jan. 27.