Cinnabar Mountain and Devil's Slide

Art Historical Context

Step into the dramatic landscapes of the American West with *Cinnabar Mountain and Devil's*, an albumen print captured by F. Jay Haynes 1880 and 1889. Haynes, a pioneering photographer renowned for documenting Yellowstone National Park and its surroundings, masterfully frames these striking geological features: the rugged rise of Cinnabar Mountain the sheer, serpentine Devil's Slide—a basalt cliff formation along the Yellowstone River near the park's north entrance. Measuring an impressive 44.2 × 54.6 cm, this large-format image invites viewers to experience the untamed beauty of the frontier. Created during the Gilded Age boom in Western exploration and tourism, the photograph exemplifies albumen printing, a dominant 19th-century technique using egg-white-coated paper for its luminous tones and fine detail. This medium allowed Haynes to produce vivid, richly toned landscapes that promoted national parks as national treasures, fueling public fascination and visitation. Haynes himself operated a mobile darkroom and studio in Yellowstone, making him the era's go-to chronicler of its wonders. Today, housed in the National Gallery of Art as a gift from the UBS Art Collection, this work highlights photography's role in shaping America's conservation ethos and cultural identity, preserving a vanishing wilderness for future generations.

About the Artist

F. Jay Haynes · 1853–1921

**Frank Jay Haynes (1853–1921)**, professionally known as F. Jay Haynes, was an American photographer, publisher, and entrepreneur renowned for his extensive documentation of the American West. Born on October 28, 1853, in Saline, Michigan, he developed an early interest in photography while growing up in Detroit. He secured an apprenticeship in Wisconsin and opened his first studio in Moorhead, M...