id: 162312 accession number: 2002.45 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2002.45 updated: 2022-01-04 17:31:13.953000 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, 19th century 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 (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: O’Sullivan took this while on a government expedition analyzing the future path of the transcontinental railroad. digital description: This noontime scene conveys a desolate place discovered by a lonely explorer. The artist chose a vantage point and framing that blocked the horizon and showed a single wagon—the former Civil War ambulance that he converted into a portable darkroom—and only two sets of footprints. However, over the previous 25 years, more than 165,000 people had passed near here on their way to California. wall description: Timothy H. O'Sullivan's Civil War experiences prepared him for the hardship of serving from 1867 to 1869 as photographer for the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel. Led by geologist Clarence King, the expedition's goal was to map and describe a strip of land along the 40th parallel in California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. This territory coincided roughly with the route of the railroad that would link the east and west coasts in 1869. Here, O'Sullivan recorded the elusive shifting dunes near Sand Springs, Nevada, including the mule-drawn ambulance he used to transport water necessary for his darkroom. O'Sullivan's work was less picturesque than that of his contemporaries, using light to define form rather than for dramatic effect. Most significantly, he compressed space by focusing on the textures in both the foreground and background, which resulted in a unified visual whole. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- 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