id: 153654
accession number: 1987.178
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1987.178
updated: 2025-02-09 04:28:09.342000
Geographical & Geological Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian Expedition of 1873, led by Lt. George M. Wheeler: Historic Spanish Record of the Conquest, South Side of Inscription Rock, N.M., No. 3, 1873. Timothy H. O'Sullivan (American, 1840–1882). Albumen print from wet collodion negative; image: 20.5 x 27.6 cm (8 1/16 x 10 7/8 in.); matted: 45.7 x 55.9 cm (18 x 22 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Mann 1987.178
title: Historic Spanish Record of the Conquest, South Side of Inscription Rock, N.M., No. 3
title in original language:
series: Geographical & Geological Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian Expedition of 1873, led by Lt. George M. Wheeler
series in original language:
creation date: 1873
creation date earliest: 1873
creation date latest: 1873
current location:
creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Mann
copyright:
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culture: America
technique: albumen print from wet collodion negative
department: Photography
collection: Photography
type: Photograph
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Timothy H. O'Sullivan (American, 1840–1882) - artist
Timothy H. O'Sullivan American, b. Ireland?, 1840-1882
An important photographer of the American Civil War, Timothy O'Sullivan worked first for Mathew Brady, then Alexander Gardner in their Washington, D.C., studios, producing some of the war's best known images. The son of Irish immigrants, whether O'Sullivan was born in New York or Ireland remains unresolved. His photographs appear in Gardner's classic volumes, Photographic Incidents of the War (1863) and Photographic Sketchbook of the War (1866).
After the war's end, O'Sullivan became a photographer for government land surveys, working from 1867-69 for Clarence King's expedition along the 40th parallel in Utah, Nevada, and California. In 1870 he was photographer for Thomas O. Selfridge's survey of the Isthmus of Darien to determine the path of the Panama Canal. That same year he was hired by Lieutenant George M. Wheeler to accompany his military surveys of the land west of the 100th meridian and expeditions to California, Nevada, and Arizona. O'Sullivan returned to work for King in 1872 before joining Wheeler again in 1873. Briefly a partner in the Washington photographic firm of Armstrong and Company, he left in 1880 to become chief photographer for the U.S. Treasury, replacing his friend and colleague Lewis Emory Walker.
Throughout his work, O'Sullivan employed a spare, restrained style that appeals to the modern eye. It is perhaps significant that he remained in the employ of the government on projects in which objectivity was paramount. By contrast, works by his peers often seem influenced by the romanticism implicit in the enterprises, mining, development, and the building of railroads, that they were hired to record. T.W.F.
* The War Department, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army - publisher
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measurements: Image: 20.5 x 27.6 cm (8 1/16 x 10 7/8 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 55.9 cm (18 x 22 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: In red pencil on recto: "1873-#9"; in pencil on recto: "4648"; "917.8 [checkmark] / U.S. Eng. Dept. / Geographical and geological explorations & surveys west of the 100th meridian / Expedition of 1873 [underlined]. Lieut. Col. Geo M. Wheeler com'd'g/.(-Photo.no.9)"; "Spanish invaders cut inscriptions on these / walls, as they passed by, to conquer, in the / name of their king & church."
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Year in Review for 1987
opening date: 1988-02-24T05:00:00
The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': 'CMA, February 24 - April 17, 1988: "Year in Review 1987," CMA Bulletin, 75 (February 1988), p. 67, no. 81.', 'opening_date': '1988-02-24T00:00:00'}
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PROVENANCE
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Mann
date:
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: December 16, 1987
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996.
page number: Reproduced: P. 264
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1987.178/1987.178_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1987.178/1987.178_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1987.178/1987.178_full.tif