A Premonitional Work, Message to Timothy H. O’Sullivan, Gullfoss (Golden Falls), Iceland
1987, printed 2006
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
2 gelatin silver prints
Dimensions
image/sheet (each): 17.15 × 23.81 cm (6 3/4 × 9 3/8 in.) mount (each): 35.56 × 43.18 cm (14 × 17 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Lannan Foundation
Accession Number
2024.94.3
Art Historical Context
Thomas Joshua Cooper's *A Premonitional Work Message to Timothy H. O’Sullivan, Gullfoss (Golden Falls), Iceland* (1987, printed 2006) is a striking diptych of two gelatin silver prints capturing the majestic Gullfoss, one of Iceland's most powerful waterfalls. Known for his poetic, large-scale black-and-white landscapes that evoke the sublime power of nature, Cooper here pays homage to 19th-century photographer Timothy H. O’Sullivan, a pioneer of American survey photography famed for his dramatic Western vistas and Civil War images. The title's "premonitional" nod suggests a prophetic dialogue...