Ansel Adams

inscribed 'A' by the photographer with a stylus on the image, mounted, signed 'Ansel E. Adams' by him in pencil on the mount, signed, dated 'Sept. 1932,' and inscribed 'For Willard Van Dyke because he likes it' by Adams in pencil and with his 'Photograph by Ansel Easton Adams, San Francisco' letterpress label (BMFA 3) on the reverse, matted, 1932

The photographer to Willard Van Dyke, 1932

Sotheby's New York, 19 May 1980, Sale 4382, Lot 658

Acquired by Hans P. Kraus, Jr., New York, from the above

Acquired by the Quillan Company from the above, 1989

Jill Quasha, The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photographs (New York, 1991), pl. 52 (this print)

Other prints of this image:

John Szarkowski, The Portfolios of Ansel Adams (Boston, 1977), p. 113

Ansel Adams, Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs (Boston, 1983), p. 28

Mary Street Alinder and Andrea Gray Stillman, Ansel Adams: Letters and Images 1916-1984 (Boston, 1988), p. 65

Andrea Gray Stillman, ed., Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs (New York, 2007), p. 63

Therese Thau Heyman, ed., Seeing Straight: The f.64 Revolution in Photography (The Oakland Museum, 1992, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 63

Passion and Precision: Photographs from the Collection of Margaret W. Weston (Monterey Museum of Art, 2003, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 59

This beautiful early print is on double-weight paper with a semi-glossy surface. The inscibed 'A' in the print's lower right corner is very small, and only visible upon close examination. There are a number of small condition issues visible when the print is examined very closely, but none of these undermine the overall fine appearance of the print. There is a small loss of emulsion in the lower right corner. There are two minute chips in the emulsion along the top edge. When the print is examined in raking light, a faint crease is visible in the lower left corner - the lack of a corresponding crease on the mount indicates that this was present prior to mounting, or occurred during the mounting process. Also faintly visible in raking light are several areas in the center of the print that are less glossy than their surroundings. As is typical for Adams's work during this period, this photograph is mounted on board with a slick white surface. The mount is lightly soiled, and there are losses in the upper right and lower left corners. 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 label 3 on the reverse of this print is 1930 to 1935.
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.

The photograph offered here, of a weathered fence in South San Francisco, is an exemplary representation of Adams's modernist aesthetic and a key image in his early exhibition career.  The photograph's sharp focus on rough boards in bright natural light demonstrates Adams's dedication to 'straight photography,' as does his choice of glossy photographic paper, which delivered a far greater degree of detail than the matte-surface Dassonville and 'Parmelian' papers he favored in the previous decade.   

Boards and Thistles dates to the early days of Adams's affiliation with Group f.64, the organization of West Coast photographers that also included Edward Weston (Lot 19) and Imogen Cunningham (Lot 4), among others.  Named for the smallest aperture on a camera's lens--f-stop 64, which rendered the greatest degree of clarity and depth-of-field--the Group rejected the then-dominant trend of Pictorialism in favor of a more realistic depiction of photographic subject matter.  The Group's ideals set the tone for much of the photography that was created in the following decades. 

Adams both took and printed the photograph offered here in 1932, when he gave it to his friend, the photographer and filmmaker Willard Van Dyke (1906-1986).  A seminal figure in West Coast photography, Van Dyke initiated the formation of Group f.64.  His studio, at 683 Brockhurst Street in Oakland, served as an early meeting place and exhibition venue for the group. 

Adams included Boards and Thistles in Group f.64's inaugural exhibition at the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco in November and December of 1932 (cf. Seeing Straight, p. 67).  The image was also among the 50 photographs he showed at Delphic Studios in 1933, his first exhibition in New York City.  A landmark image for Adams in his formative years as a photographer, Boards and Thistles continued to be regarded by Adams throughout his career as one of his most significant achievements.  He included it in his last portfolio, Portfolio VII (New York, 1976), and reflected upon it in his introduction: 'When I look now at the negative of "Boards and Thistles," made over forty years ago, the wonder and excitement of the creative event are sharply revived.  The image represents the threshold of my experience in the clear, straight vision of photography; the essence of the f.64 approach' (The Portfolios of Ansel Adams, p. 108).