Ancient Ruins in the Cañon de Chelle, N.M. (No. 11, Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian)
Medium
Photography-Photoprint
Classification
Photography-Photoprint
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase
Accession Number
1974.33.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1873, pioneering photographer Timothy H. O'S captured *Ancient Ruins in theñon de Chelle, N.M.* during the U.S. Army's Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian led by Lieutenant George M. Wheeler. This photoprint documents cliff dwellings perched dramatically in the rugged canyons what is now Canyon de Chelly, Arizonathen labeled New Mexico Territory). O'Sullivan, renowned for his stark, monumental landscapes from the Civil War era and Western expeditions, used the wet-collodion process to produce crisp, detailed images on glass negatives, hauling heavy equipment thr...
About the Artist
Timothy H. O'Sullivan · 1840–present
Timothy H. O'Sullivan (c. 1840–1882) was a pioneering American photographer whose unflinching lens captured the raw devastation of the Civil War and the sublime vastness of the untamed West. Born in New York City—or possibly Ireland, with his family migrating soon after—his early life remains sparsely documented. As a teenager, he apprenticed under Mathew Brady at the famed daguerreotype studio on...