Ansel Adams' Best at the Getty in LA

[Peter Collins]

Folks,
Ansel Adams' selection of his best images is at the Getty Museum, LA, from March 18 through July 20, 2014. For more info, see:
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_ansel_adams/

I'm hoping that it will travel around the US after July...LA so far from Michigan.

[Heroique]

My life will near completion when I can, finally, stand in front of a print by his hand, "The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming."

It's part of this show.

In The Print, AA calls it "dramatic," "powerful," "very strong."

He's not shy about this one – I think I understand and feel why.

[Michael Clark]

All right thanks for the tip Peter.

Mike

[Harley Goldman]

Thanks for the heads up. I will have to get down to LA for this.

[ROL]

My wife has asked me to be her date at next week's lecture at the Getty, Ansel Adams, The Wild and Uncultivated. I hope the exhibition will be open prior to the talk, as has been the custom.

FWIW, I've consistently found that when multiple photographers are shown at the Getty exhibits, it's abundantly easy to locate AA when entering a room. There's always a crowd around those.

[Jim Jones]

Only 24 prints? the current Oklahoma City Museum exhibit is over twice that size, and the recent Peoria exhibit was over a hundred prints plus some other Adams memorabilia.

[Darin Boville]

it's abundantly easy to locate AA when entering a room. There's always a crowd around those.

Don't take that too seriously. It may just be a measure of our ignorance.

I remember two years ago standing in a side gallery at the Louvre looking at northern German work. Largely empty of people in there but every few minutes a mini-mob would arrive, glazed-eyed and desperate-looking, a piece of paper in hand. They would scan the room, looking up and down at their paper until they saw it, the Durer self-portrait. They would race over, crowd around, and ooh and ahhh. Seven seconds later they were gone. Surrounding the self portrait were well-known works by Baldung and Cranach the Elder. Didn't warrant a glance.

--Darin

[Darin Boville]

Well, this is cool. The Getty show has an illustrated "checklist"--very nice. Very useful. Every exhibit everywhere should have one of these.

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_ansel_adams/focus_ansel_adams_checklist.pdf

--Darin

[ROL]

Don't take that too seriously. It may just be a measure of our ignorance.

All seriousness aside, that's nutty. An opinion on everything, incredible or not, eh Darin? People like and respond to what they like.

[ROL]

My life will near completion when I can, finally, stand in front of a print by his hand, "The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming."

Am I doing you or any one else a favor in suggesting that it is very likely that there is one very near you already? Contact your museums, libraries or universities to see if they got one in their collections.

This exhibit looks to be drawn from their collections. I don't see anything suggesting it will be touring the country. There's just too much Ansel already out there.

[alavergh]

Peter, this is a little closer...

http://www.eiteljorg.org/explore/exhibitions/ansel-adams

My wife just showed it to me. It's in Indianapolis...but still closer than LA.

[Darin Boville]

All seriousness aside, that's nutty. An opinion on everything, incredible or not, eh Darin? People like and respond to what they like.

I have no real clue what you are trying to say. You can spot good works of art by looking for the crowds, sort of like restaurants when you are traveling?

--Darin

[Darin Boville]

My life will near completion when I can, finally, stand in front of a print by his hand, "The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming."


If you are serious about what you wrote why not write a nice letter to the folks at the Seattle Museum of Art--your sig says you are in Seattle--they own a copy:

http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/emuseum/code/emuseum.asp?style=browse&currentrecord=1&page=search&profile=objects&searchdesc=ansel%20adams&quicksearch=ansel%20adams&newvalues=1&newstyle=single&newcurrentrecord=2

Maybe they can give you an opportunity to see the print. Can't hurt. Just use the same words you used here. :)

--Darin

[bigdog]

Ansel Adams' selection of his best images is at the Getty Museum, LA, from March 18 through July 20, 2014.

But, but, I thought these were the best ...

http://arlingtonmuseum.org/exhibitions/summer-2014-ansel-adams-masterworks/

:p

[Heroique]

Am I doing you or any one else a favor in suggesting that it is very likely that there is one very near you already? Contact your museums, libraries or universities to see if they got one in their collections.


If you are serious about what you wrote why not write a nice letter to the folks at the Seattle Museum of Art. ...Maybe they can give you an opportunity to see the print. Can't hurt. Just use the same words you used here. :)

Oh yes, "The Tetons and the Snake River" is part of Seattle Art Museum's permanent collection, but it's not on display, and there are no plans to put it on display. In other words, it's in "safe and secure" storage, and has languished there for some time.

Typical of most big museums, SAM will pull it out for special cases, like formal academic research or publication plans. So close, yet so far away!

Maybe I can go downtown in a tweed jacket, and introduce myself as Dr. Heroique, LF forum. :cool:

[Leszek Vogt]

Maybe I can go downtown in a tweed jacket, and introduce myself as Dr. Heroique, LF forum.


OK, docta put a lime in the cockinut, you can see couple of those of AA extraction, but they are not going to be super iconic (my choice). Well, one of those is "The Bridevail Falls". They are relatively small - 8x10- but what the hey. We can meet, and you don't have to go to LA to see em. You can put on your tweed jacket anyway :).

Les

[Heroique]

It would be super if the show traveled up to SAM.

Bet I'd see you there!

Meantime, the "Teton-Snake" print (at SAM) is 15-15/16" x 19-1/16", certainly worth a "lime."

[Drew Wiley]

Fifty percent of it is people staring at his prints because they're supposed to. After all, it's Ansel Adams. I certainly respect his contribution to the art, and especially
his sensitivity to natural light, and poetic rendition of it. But I've never been overwhelmed by him as a printmaker. He got the effect he wanted, and communicated
his visual philosophy precisely. But frankly, some of what I'd consider his best images or prints have never even been published, to my knowledge. I have no idea what the Getty is specifically showing, but way to much of AA has devolved into a visual commodity used as a venue draw.

[Sal Santamaura]

...I have no idea what the Getty is specifically showing...All you had to do was go to the link in post #8. :)


...The Getty show has an illustrated "checklist"...

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_ansel_adams/focus_ansel_adams_checklist.pdf...

[Drew Wiley]

OK. Largely commodity images ... with a couple exceptions, the same ones that one sees over and over again. Nice opportunity if no one has, but a selection like that sure wouldn't tempt me if I were in the neighborhood. At least they do have a couple of older ones, just to mollify the stereotypes.

[Michael Clark]

Went to the Getty yesterday to see the A.A. show, They had some nice prints hanging and would have enjoyed seeing them a lot more if they would turn on the lights.

[gary892]

Micheal, how was it getting there with all the freeway construction?

[Michael Clark]

I went on a Tuesday about 9:30-10:00 am or so, freeway was ok but they were doing construction right next to the parking area but not to much of a hassle . From Norwalk it did not take me more than 45minutes to get there.

[Gary Sommer]

So sorry, Heroique, but this exhibit was just in Portland. Saw it on the 10th at the Oregon Historical Society. This is the first time I have seen an actual Adams print. They were very beautiful, I was somewhat surprised that many were very dark and contrasty.

[AtlantaTerry]

I could kick my butt. There was an exhibit of Ansel Adams photos at a museum here last year and I didn't know about it until it was too late. :(

[Jeff Dexheimer]

Thanks for bringing this up. I checked the schedule and it's coming to my neck of the woods (well, 4 hours away, but close enough) in the fall. :)

[Jim Fitzgerald]

We went on Sunday and I always love to see Ansel's work. They showed two different Moonrise prints from different years. Very interesting to see how we all change how we print over time.

They also have an exhibit up called Royal Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography that is great for any alternative process printers. For me the highlight was the four carbon transfer prints from the 1870's. Looked like they were printed yesterday!

[Michael Clark]

I looked at those also Jim, and was impressed with the Albumin (sp) and salt prints and there max density they had in the darker tones.
We went on Sunday and I always love to see Ansel's work. They showed two different Moonrise prints from different years. Very interesting to see how we all change how we print over time.

They also have an exhibit up called Royal Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography that is great for any alternative process printers. For me the highlight was the four carbon transfer prints from the 1870's. Looked like they were printed yesterday!

[ghostcount]

I went to the Getty with the wife this Sunday. They had a number of Ansel's early and later works; enough to be able to compare his style as they progress through the years. What really intrigued me is the "Lodgepole Pines". I knew it was a soft focused image, but seeing the actual print and how the aberrations just made the leaves shimmer was captivating.

The albumen and salt prints of the royals are amazing. Lot's of CDV size and a number of whole plate. Fenton's "Valley of Shadow of Death" was there too and many of his other works. One from Frederick Archer was also on display, I believe it was "The Castle".

What really impressed me the most is seeing a huge daguerreotype. The size wasn't stated but it was bigger than 11x14, I suspect it was 14x17. I can't imagine the amount of buffing it took to get that mirror finish and the delicate handling for the gilding process. :eek:

If you are near LA and want to see early photography, it's a "can't miss".

[Curt]

I'm going in May. Flying down from Seattle.