Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia
Artist
Timothy H. O'Sullivan
(American, 1840-1882)
Publisher
Philp and Solomons, Washington, D.C.
(American)
CultureAmerican
Date1862
MediumAlbumen print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 10 3/8 × 13 1/16 in. (26.4 × 33.2 cm)
Overall, Paper: 16 7/8 × 20 1/8 in. (42.9 × 51.1 cm)
Overall, Mat: 20 1/8 × 24 1/8 in. (51.1 × 61.3 cm)
Overall, Paper: 16 7/8 × 20 1/8 in. (42.9 × 51.1 cm)
Overall, Mat: 20 1/8 × 24 1/8 in. (51.1 × 61.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of David L. Hack and Museum purchase, with funds from Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., by exchange
Object number98.32.18
Not on view
Label Text*New Acquisition
Timothy H. O'Sullivan
American (1840-1882)
Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia, 1862
Albumen print
Gift of David L. Hack and by exchange Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 98.32.18
After learning his trade working in Mathew Brady's New York studio, Timothy O'Sullivan became one of the most prolific photographers of the Civil War. He left Brady in 1862 and shortly thereafter began working for Alexander Gardner for the duration of the War. Of the 100 photographs in Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, O'Sullivan made 44. He used the wet collodion process to make the negative from which this print is made. The negative is on a glass plate the same size as the print that you see here. It was called wet collodion because the photographer had to coat the glass plate, make the exposure, and develop the negative before the wet collodion dried. This necessitated that the photographer must carry a darkroom on location when making the negative.
Later, O'Sullivan worked as a photographer on geological and mapping expeditions in the American West and Panama. In 1867, he accompanied the first Western survey, making photographs for the Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel. He was also the first to make photographs in an underground mine, at the Comstock Lode, located in what is now the state of Nevada.
Edited By: GLY
Edited Date: 09/2004
Approved By: MHM
Approval Date: 09/21/2005Exhibition History"Photography Speaks," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, September 4, 2004 - January 2, 2005.
