Ansel Adams

mounted, signed and titled by the photographer in pencil on the mount, with a partial inscription, '. . . at wedding of Francis Farquhar, Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite,' in an unidentified hand in pencil on the reverse, early 1930s, likely printed no later than 1934 (Making a Photograph, p. 90; Hallmark, p. 100)

This early, luminous print is on paper with a semi-glossy surface. Aside from some edge wear and small chipping at the upper edge and lower right edge of the image, this print is in excellent condition. The print offered here has myriad, subtle variations within the gray tones. When examined very closely only in high raking light, extremely faint scratches, not breaking the emulsion, are visible on the surface of the print. The large white/gray mount, with a slick surface on both sides, is in good condition. Based on the missing upper portion of the inscription, it is assumed that the top edge was trimmed. There is wear at the edges and the corners are bumped. At the lower right corner, a very small section of the top paper layer has sheared off. There is a very small abrasion at the upper left of the mount and two edge creases--at the right edge and at the upper edge at the left. The reverse of the mount has edge wear, four adhesive tape remains at the center of each edge, and two abrasions, indicating that something, possibly a small sheet of paper, once adhered, has been removed.
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.

Francis P. Farquhar (1887 - 1974), whose 1934 wedding is referred to in the inscription on the reverse of this print, was an author, pioneer conservationist, scholar, Sierra Club president, and Sierra Club Bulletin editor (1926-1946).  It was through the Sierra Club and its publication that he and Ansel Adams became friends.

Farquhar, well-connected in Washington circles through his previous work at the National Park Service, likely helped to arrange Adams's first solo museum exhibition, Pictorial Photographs of the Sierra Nevada Mountains by Ansel Adams, at the Smithsonian Institution in January and February 1931.  In connection with that exhibition, Farquhar wrote the first serious article about Adams's photography as art in the February 1931 issue of Touring Topics:

'Ansel Adams is emphatically a realist . . . . The composition is not a conscious arrangement of the artist; it is inherent in the object itself.  It is the artist's genius which enables him to perceive at once the arrangement of masses, the flow of lines, and the texture of surfaces in the object of vision, whether it be a mountain, a landscape, a building, a cloud, a tree, a human form or face, or anything whatsoever' (Ansel Adams: A Biography, pp. 77-8).