Sand Dunes, Carson Desert, Nevada

1867

Timothy H. O'Sullivan

(American, 1840–1882)

Culture

America

Medium

albumen print from wet collodion negative

Measurements

Image: 19.7 x 27 cm (7 3/4 x 10 5/8 in.); Mounted: 45.7 x 59.4 cm (18 x 23 3/8 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund 2002.45

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

O’Sullivan took this while on a government expedition analyzing the future path of the transcontinental railroad.

Description

This noontime scene conveys a desolate place discovered by a lonely explorer. The artist chose a vantage point and framing that blocked the horizon and showed a single wagon—the former Civil War ambulance that he converted into a portable darkroom—and only two sets of footprints. However, over the previous 25 years, more than 165,000 people had passed near here on their way to California.