The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2024

Mount Williamson, The Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California

Mount Williamson, The Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California

1945
(American, 1902–1984)
Image: 38.7 x 45.9 cm (15 1/4 x 18 1/16 in.); Matted: 61 x 76.2 cm (24 x 30 in.)
© 1980 Trustees of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
Location: not on view

Description

Taken during one of Adams's many visits to Manzanar, the Japanese relocation camp in the Owens Valley of eastern California, this photograph reveals both his great love for the unspoiled landscape and his ability to record it. Placing the camera on the rooftop platform of his car, he selected the smallest lens aperture and positioned the camera to hold both near and distant objects in sharp focus. He thus captured this view of Mount Williamson, located several miles away across a field of boulders, and the rays of the sun filtering through the storm clouds above. By using the "zone system" (which grouped tonal values into ten zones ranging from dark to light), Adams was able to compose and develop an image filled with high contrasts of light and shadow.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 76
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 37 no. 01, January 1997 Mentioned & reproduced: p.3 archive.org
  • American Space: Landscape Photography 1900-1950. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 6-May 23, 2001).
    Legacy of Light: Seven Masters in Depth. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 20-February 2, 1996).
    The Year in Review for 1989. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-April 15, 1990).
    CMA, Feb. 6 - April 15, 1990: "Year in Review 1989," CMA Bulletin 77 (Feb. 1990), p. 67, no. 20.
    CMA, Oct. 15, 1993 - Jan. 9, 1994: "Ansel Adams from the Permanent Collection," Gallery 105, no exhibition catalogue.
    CMA, November 20,1996 - February 2, 1997: "Legacy of Light: Seven Masters in Depth."
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; January 3-May 23, 2001. "American Space: Landscape Photography, 1900-1950."
  • {{cite web|title=Mount Williamson, The Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California|url=false|author=Ansel Adams|year=1945|access-date=23 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.18