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Lot Essay
Carleton Watkins' photographs of Yosemite in the 1860s established his legacy as the most important and intrepid American landscape photographer of the nineteenth century. With Yosemite as a magnificent backdrop, he created harmonious compositions in which the monumental forms of the landscape created structure and balance.
Watkins' acute formal aesthetic and advanced technical prowess in using the largest and most difficult of all cameras, the Mammoth Plate Camera, established his international reputation and influenced the U.S. government's decision to create Yosemite a National Park in 1890. Watkins was also an important reference for a number of subsequent photographers of Yosemite, notably his contemporary, Eadweard Muybridge and, later, Ansel Adams (who photographed many of the same magnificent vistas).
In 1878-1881, Watkins' views of Yosemite became far more formally sophisticated, as he employed a more abstract and contemplative approach to his subject matter.
Lots 264-273, from an Important Western Collection, are superb examples of Watkins at his mature best (please also refer to lot 27). Originally in a private institution and therefore, until now, seldom viewed, they retain their exceptional tonal richness, so characteristic of Watkins' prints from this period. Mammoth-plate albumen prints by Watkins of this caliber are extremely rare and infreqently offered at auction.
Watkins' acute formal aesthetic and advanced technical prowess in using the largest and most difficult of all cameras, the Mammoth Plate Camera, established his international reputation and influenced the U.S. government's decision to create Yosemite a National Park in 1890. Watkins was also an important reference for a number of subsequent photographers of Yosemite, notably his contemporary, Eadweard Muybridge and, later, Ansel Adams (who photographed many of the same magnificent vistas).
In 1878-1881, Watkins' views of Yosemite became far more formally sophisticated, as he employed a more abstract and contemplative approach to his subject matter.
Lots 264-273, from an Important Western Collection, are superb examples of Watkins at his mature best (please also refer to lot 27). Originally in a private institution and therefore, until now, seldom viewed, they retain their exceptional tonal richness, so characteristic of Watkins' prints from this period. Mammoth-plate albumen prints by Watkins of this caliber are extremely rare and infreqently offered at auction.