Relight
Ansel Adams
Mount Williamson, Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, 1944
- Printed
- c. 1963–65
- Image
- 10½ × 13in
- Mount
- 14 × 18in
- Material
- Gelatin silver print
- Mount
- Mounted to Hi-Art Illustration Board
- Recto
- Signed in ink, mount recto.
- Verso
- BMFA 7 and 8 stamps, mount verso, with the title in ink: “Mount Williamson from Manzanar, California.” A small paper label reading “45” in the bottom corner of the mount — possibly an exhibition or inventory number.
These images may contain artifacts from the scanning process. The framed view is a real photograph of the print with a frame added digitally.
This silver gelatinThe clear binder that suspends the light-sensitive silver, forming the print's image layer. print, mounted to board, is in overall good condition.
Surface
- Edge chips with emulsion lossAn area where the image layer has chipped or flaked away from the paper, leaving a small void. throughout, most prominent along the top edge — at the center and center-left.
- Three shallow, softened impressions in the lower-left quadrant that do not break the emulsionThe light-sensitive image layer of the print — the gelatin coating that holds the silver and carries the photograph., visible only in strong raking lightLight cast from a low, glancing angle across the surface, used to reveal texture and shallow defects invisible head-on. on close inspection.
- A faint half-moon handling creaseA line where the paper has been folded or bent, which may or may not break the image layer. — likely made before mounting — halfway down the image along the left edge; does not break the emulsionThe light-sensitive image layer of the print — the gelatin coating that holds the silver and carries the photograph.; visible in strong raking lightLight cast from a low, glancing angle across the surface, used to reveal texture and shallow defects invisible head-on. on close inspection.
- Extremely faint linear creases on the top third of the image, about ⅓ in from the left and right edges; do not break the emulsionThe light-sensitive image layer of the print — the gelatin coating that holds the silver and carries the photograph.; visible only in strong raking lightLight cast from a low, glancing angle across the surface, used to reveal texture and shallow defects invisible head-on. on close inspection.
- Minute impressions in all four quadrants — linear in the upper- and lower-left, irregular in the upper-right, two in the lower-right; none breaks the emulsionThe light-sensitive image layer of the print — the gelatin coating that holds the silver and carries the photograph.; visible only in raking lightLight cast from a low, glancing angle across the surface, used to reveal texture and shallow defects invisible head-on. on close inspection.
- One linear impressionA shallow indentation pressed into the surface, often from handling or contact, without removing material. in the upper-right quadrant with a distinctive reflective quality — possibly from contact with glass; does not break the emulsionThe light-sensitive image layer of the print — the gelatin coating that holds the silver and carries the photograph.; visible only in raking lightLight cast from a low, glancing angle across the surface, used to reveal texture and shallow defects invisible head-on. on close inspection.
Condition is reported as an opinion, not a statement of fact, and may not note every defect. It describes the artwork as observed at the time of imaging.
Provenance is compiled from documents and owner accounts and may be incomplete.