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20

O'SULLIVAN, TIMOTHY (1840-1882) "Ancient Ruins in the Canyon de Chelle, N.M."

20

O'SULLIVAN, TIMOTHY (1840-1882) "Ancient Ruins in the Canyon de Chelle, N.M."

O'SULLIVAN, TIMOTHY (1840-1882)
"Ancient Ruins in the Canyon de Chelle, N.M." Albumen print, 10 3/4x7 3/4 inches (27.3x19.7 cm.), on the two-toned Wheeler Survey letterpress mount, with O'Sullivan's credit, title, No. 11, and survey information in mount recto. 1873
  • Notes: From the Witkin Gallery, New York City in 1975; to the present owner.
    Timothy O'Sullivan: America's Forgotten Photographer, 310.
    T.H. O'Sullivan: Photographer (1966), 37.


    After completing an apprenticeship at the beginning of the Civil War with famed mid-nineteenth-century photographer Matthew Brady, Timothy O'Sullivan went out on his own, photographing wounded soldiers, battle fields, and the ravaged and war-torn American landscape. In 1867, two years after the war, O'Sullivan was appointed the photographer for the U.S. Geological Survey, which sought to use developing photographic technology to provide topological documentation of the ever-expanding United States. As this expedition headed farther west, Lieutenant George Wheeler, looking for an inland passage for troops from Idaho, through Utah to Arizona, included O'Sullivan in his team of scientists in order to have a visual record of his endeavor. During the trek, there was a conflict between the two men, and O'Sullivan journeyed on his own, bringing his large-scale photographic equipment with him as he explored Native American territories and the monumental natural land masses in those regions.


    The Canyon de Chelle, located in northeastern Arizona, had a thriving Native American population in the late 19th century when O'Sullivan photographed the region. Navajo for "among the cliffs," the Canyon de Chelle today is home to the Navajo population in the United States, and designated Navajo Tribal Trust Land by the National Park Service, preserving Native American heritage and tradition. O'Sullivan's photographs are taken from a vast distance, further highlighting the immense and overwhelming scale of these ecological wonders.
  • Condition: This iconic photograph is in overall excellent condition. There's an extremely faint mounting crease to the tip of the upper left corner of the print and faint bubbling to a few areas along the left side of the image area, where the paper has raised slightly off the mount. These issues are visible only in raking light. There are also scattered, tiny spots of retouching throughout the photograph, which are visible predominantly in raking light only.

    The surface of the photograph is beautiful and luminous with a rich range of tonalities, which are accentuated by faint hints of silvering. The photograph is on the two-toned Wheeler Survey letterpress mount, with O'Sullivan's credit, title, No. 11, and survey information in mount recto.
    On the lower left edge of mount there is a 3/4- inch tear to the board (see jpeg), which does not in anyway detract from this image.

    This photograph is from the Witkin Gallery, New York City in 1975; to the present owner and the image is illustrated in Timothy O'Sullivan: America's Forgotten Photographer, 310 and T.H. O'Sullivan: Photographer (1966), 37.




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October 21, 2008 1:30 PM EDT
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