Iceberg Canyon, Colorado River, Looking Above
Medium
albumen print
Dimensions
sheet: 20.3 x 27.6 cm (8 x 10 7/8 in.) mount: 41 x 50.6 cm (16 1/8 x 19 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Diana and Mallory Walker Fund and Robert B. Menschel Fund
Accession Number
2005.10.1
Art Historical Context
Step into the dramatic vistas of the American West with *Iceberg Canyon, Colorado River Looking Above*, a stunning 1871 albumen print Timothy H. O'Sullivan. Captured during Clarence King's U.S. Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel (1867–1872), this photograph documents the rugged grandeur of Iceberg Canyon along the Colorado River, likely showcasing sheer rock walls, winding waters, and a sense of awe-inspiring isolation. O'Sullivan, a pioneering photographer known for his work with Mathew Brady during the Civil War, turned his lens to the untamed landscapes of the expanding United ...
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...