Yellowstone Grand Canyon and Great Falls
Artist
Unknown
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1900
MediumHand-tinted gelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall: 17 7/8 x 13 3/4 in. (45.4 x 34.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Robert W. Lisle, M.D.
Object number96.9.48
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a hand-tinted gelatin silver print depicting the Great Falls of the Yellowstone at the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park.Label TextYellowstone Grand Canyon and Great Falls, ca. 1900 Hand-tinted gelatin silver print (photograph) Commercial sales of the first handheld camera in 1888 made photography a popular hobby almost overnight, especially among tourists. Professional photographers worried that amateur “button pressers” would undermine photography’s hard-won status as fine art and they developed techniques to differentiate their artwork from run-of-the-mill snapshots. The artist who made this monumental, hand-tinted image of Yellowstone’s Great Falls blurred the line between painting and photography. Its wide range of tones, soft contrast, and matte finish assert the photograph should be seen as a work of art. Gift of Robert W. Lisle, M.D. 96.9.48 Exhibition History"New Light on Land: Photographs from the Chrysler Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, January 28 - May 15, 2016.
