Ansel Adams Photograph Fetches Auction Record Price of $988,000 USD

Last November, Sotheby’s announced its plans to auction off a massive collection of Ansel Adams’ photographs spanning nearly seven decades. The collection, titled A Grand Vision: The David H. Arrington Collection of Ansel Adams Masterworks, recently achieved a total sale price of $6.4 million USD. The standout lot was one of Adams’ most recognized captures entitled The Grand Tetons and the Snake River which snapped up $988,000 USD.

The mural-sized print was initially commissioned for the Department of the Interior back in 1942 which portrays a view of Jackson Hole. The piece is said to be just one of 10 large-scale images of the work. “Arrington acquired the early edition from Adams’s relatives Michael and Jeanne Adams. It was purchased by art advisory firm Gurr Johns,” as per Art Market Monitor. “The figure surpasses Adams’s previous record set in June 2010 during the Polaroid corporate collection sale at Sotheby’s. There, his mural-sized print Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, said to have been printed in the 1950s or 1960s sold for $722,500 [USD].”

The firm also bought an early print of Adams’ Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico for $685,000 USD — initially valued between $700,000-$1 million USD. Visit Sotheby’s website to learn more about the collection and get a closer look at The Grand Tetons and the Snake River above.

For more photography, check out Dutch photographer Ronin de Goede’s new visual diary, ASAKUSA, that spotlights the work of a Japanese tattoo master.