Ansel Adams

mounted, signed in pencil on the mount, the photographer's '131 - 24th Avenue San Francisco' studio stamp (BMFA 4), numbered and titled in red ink (crossed out), Carmel studio stamps (BMFA 7 and 8), titled and numbered '65' in black ink, and with a 'Virginia Adams Collection' stamp on the reverse, overmatted, hinged to a modern mount, 1948, probably printed between 1950 and 1962 (This is The American Earth, p. 51)

This print is in generally excellent condition. It is overmatted, and a mat is hinged to the overmat. On the reverse of the mat, there is a 'Photograph by Ansel Adams / 181 Van Ess Way Carmel, California 93923' stamp (not in 'Ansel Adams in the Lane Collection), with title and date in an unidentified hand in pencil, and a 'Virginia Adams Collection' stamp. On the reverse of the mount, Adams has titled this photograph both 'Grass and Rain, Alaska' and 'Grass and Rain Drops, Alaska.' Also on the reverse are numerical notations in pencil and ink. In the lower left corner of the mount, there is a 2-inch rectangular brown paper remnant. Karen Haas's and Rebecca Senf's book, 'Ansel Adams in the Lane Collection,' publishes the most comprehensive list to date of the studio stamps and labels Adams used throughout his career. The authors' assessment of the use dates of stamp 4 is 1950 to 1962. As stamp 4 is crossed out, it is likely that Adams re-stamped this print with stamps 7 and 8 (commonly used between 1963 to 1970) after he moved. The stamps on the reverse of the mat are not included in Haas's and Senf's book.
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.

Organized on behalf of the Sierra Club and held at the LeConte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite, Ansel Adams and Nancy Newhall's collaborative 1955 exhibition, This Is The American Earth, was an unprecedented international success, attracting record-numbers of visitors to the Lodge and aiding the Club's funding. 

The exhibited photographs included many by Adams as well as by Edward and Brett Weston, Eliot Porter, and Minor White, among others.  The photographs, printed for the exhibition to Adams's specifications, and accompanying free-verse text written by Newhall, were mounted on panels and hung according to deliberate sequence, with visitor's instructions for how to proceed through the exhibition.  After traveling to Stanford University and Boston Museum of Fine Arts, with the assistance of the Smithsonian Institution, the exhibition continued to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the California Academy of Science, San Francisco, among other venues, as well to international institutions arranged by the United States Information Service.

Following the success of the exhibition, This Is The American Earth was published in 1960 as the first of the Sierra Club's 20 oversized exhibit format books.  The book included a revised selection of 84 photographs by 32 photographers, including, among others, Margaret Bourke-White, William Garnett, Pirkle Jones, and Adams's longtime friend and mentor, Cedric Wright.