id: 162312 accession number: 2002.45 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2002.45 updated: 2025-02-09 05:47:11.379000 Sand Dunes, Carson Desert, Nevada, 1867. Timothy H. O'Sullivan (American, 1840–1882). Albumen print from wet collodion negative; image: 19.7 x 27 cm (7 3/4 x 10 5/8 in.); mounted: 45.7 x 59.4 cm (18 x 23 3/8 in.); matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2002.45 title: Sand Dunes, Carson Desert, Nevada title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1867 creation date earliest: 1867 creation date latest: 1867 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: America technique: albumen print from wet collodion negative department: Photography collection: Photography type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- 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. --- measurements: Image: 19.7 x 27 cm (7 3/4 x 10 5/8 in.); Mounted: 45.7 x 59.4 cm (18 x 23 3/8 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: imprinted in black ink on recto: "U.S./ ENGINEER DEPARTMENT/ GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION/ FORTIETH PARALLEL"; "T.H.O'Sullivan Photographer"; "No. 59" (highlighted in black)"; in black ink on mount: "Sand Dunes near Sand"; in pencil on mount: "K1130" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro Collection of American Photography opening date: 2003-04-26T00:00:00 Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro Collection of American Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 26-September 10, 2003). title: The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890-1950 opening date: 2006-10-29T00:00:00 The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890-1950. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (organizer) (October 29, 2006-January 20, 2007); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (March 4-June 3, 2007). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, NY) date: footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: June 3, 2002 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 304-305 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2002.45/2002.45_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2002.45/2002.45_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2002.45/2002.45_full.tif