Metamorphic Rock and Summer Grass, Foothills, the Sierra Nevada, California
1945, printed 1981
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
overall: 34.7 x 24.2 cm (13 11/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Virginia B. Adams
Accession Number
1986.3.63
Art Historical Context
Ansel Adams, a pioneering American photographer renowned for his majestic black-and-white landscapes, captured *Metamorphic Rock and Grass, Foothills the Sierra Nevada, California* in 1945. This gelatin silver print, made from the original negative in 1981, exemplifies Adams' lifelong passion for the Sierra Nevada mountains, a region he explored extensively. Shot in the foothills, the image contrasts the ancient, textured forms of metamorphic rock with the soft, vibrant summer grass, evoking raw power and serenity of California's natural wilderness. Adams' signature style—rooted in "straight ...
About the Artist
Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams, born on February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California, grew up as the only child of Charles Hitchcock Adams, a businessman and astronomy enthusiast who tutored him at home, and Olive Bray, with whom he had a distant relationship. A hyperactive child prone to illness, Adams struggled in formal schooling and was educated by private tutors and his father until graduating from eighth gr...