Armature of Monumental Sculpture
Ansel Adams
American, 1902–1984
1938
A gelatin silver print by Ansel Adams that documents a rough, life-size armature for a monumental sculpture, aiming to record and reveal the raw, work-in-progress presence of the figure.
The towering, faceless form with arms raised dominates the attic studio—its coarse, plastered surface and an overhead lamp haloing the head give it an uncanny, totemic presence.
Placed outside Adams’s usual landscape work, the photograph elevates the sculptor’s workshop and the making process into a subject of modernist attention, showing how photography can aestheticize tools and stages of production.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
9 1/4 × 7 1/4" (23.5 × 18.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Albert M. Bender
Accession
27.1939
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
