Natural Causes

Ansel Adams & American Landscape Photography

Exhibition
7 Mar 1998 – 21 Jun 1998
Black and white photograph of a snow capped mountains

Ansel Adams, Maroon Bells, near Aspen, Colorado, 1951, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1977

About

Ansel Adams (1902–1984) is one of the most celebrated and influential 20th century landscape photographers. The exhibition title reflects the place of Adams's work in a tradition of brilliant American photographers of the sublime natural landscape and Adams's role as an ardent conservationist.

In 1981 the National Gallery of Australia was one of a select group of world museums which were successful in their applications to purchase Adams's 'Museum set' of 75 images spanning his career from 1927 to the 1970s. The selection and production of this portfolio occupied the last decade of Adams's life.

The Museum set has formed the basis of two previous National Gallery exhibitions. The 1998 exhibition includes over 30 images by Ansel Adams from over 100 works in the Gallery's collection. The exhibition is being mounted in association with New Worlds from Old: 19th Century Australian & American Landscapes. A small selection of works by other 19th and 20th century American landscape photographers in the National Gallery's collection will also be included in the current Adams exhibition.

Related

Exhibition

FuturePlay
from the house of tomorrow

Past Exhibition
Model layout of exhibitions with hands adjusting the location of works of art

19 Mar 2005 – 29 May 2005

futurePlay transforms the Children’s Gallery into a playroom of the future, with an electronic world of digital animations and interactive artwork.

Exhibition

Diane Arbus
American Portraits

Past Exhibition
A black and white photo of harried Christmas shoppers looking down at the photographer

3 Jun 2016 – 30 Oct 2016

The photographs of Diane Arbus (1923–1971) are powerful allegories of postwar America.

Exhibition

Transparent Things
Expressions in Glass

Past Exhibition
A large green quenelle shaped glass sculpture with horizontal grooves

7 Dec 2001 – 10 Nov 2002

This exhibition focused on artworks that responded to the transparency of glass and how the unique medium has inspired artists over the centuries.

Exhibition

In the Spotlight
Anton Bruehl photographs 1920s–1950s

Past Exhibition
Picture of a young redheaded offering a bouquet of red roses to an unknown figure whose elderly hands are shown in the frame.

23 Oct 2010 – 6 Feb 2011

Australian-born photographer Anton Bruehl's work ranges across advertising, images of stars of stage, screen and socialites in places such as Vogue.

Exhibition

The Birth of the Modern Poster

Past Exhibition
Print of a green goblin holding a bottle of alcohol upon a black background. Yellow text underneath reads Maurin Quina

10 Feb – 13 May 2007

The Birth of the Modern Poster examined poster art and its evolution from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

Exhibition

Myth and memory in recent American landscape photography

Past Exhibition
Black and white gelatin silver photograph of a cactus in the desert

12 Jan 2015 – 13 Jul 2015

The Wild West have always had an important place the imaginative life of the American people, shown in these photographs of late twentieth century.

Exhibition

Robert Rauschenberg
1967–1978

Past Exhibition
Collage with two elephants in the centre, small clock face, pill and fingertip images

1 Sep 2007 – 27 Jan 2008

Rauschenberg worked beyond the restrictions imposed by media, style and convention, and adopted a unique experimental methodology.

Exhibition

Masterpieces from Paris
Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond

Past Exhibition
An oil painting study of a rocky shoreline at the base of the cliff

4 Dec 2009 – 5 Apr 2010

Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and beyond features 112 of the best-known works of modern art from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

Exhibition

Frank Stella
The Kenneth Tyler Print Collection

Past Exhibition
a bright screenprint with geometric patterns and shapes collaged together

19 Nov 2016 – 22 Oct 2017

A showcase of Frank Stella's adventurous and groundbreaking prints that helped shape the development of 20th century printmaking.

Exhibition

Penguins and Ice
Photographs of Antarctica 1910–2010

Past Exhibition
Black and white photograph of many penguins on a beach next to cliff faces

23 Dec 2011 – 25 Mar 2012

Photographing in the extreme conditions of Antarctica is difficult even now; this exhibition features the results of those heroic expeditions.