Ansel Adams (1902-1984)
Golden Gate Before The Bridge, 1932
Gelatin silver print, probably printed between 1932-35; mounted, signed 'Ansel E Adams' in pencil on the mount, titled 'The Golden Gate' in pencil and the photographer's San Francisco studio label (BMFA Label 3) on the reverse, framed.
6 3/8 x 9 1/8 in. (16.2 x 23.2 cm.)
sheet 13 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. (34.3 x 44.5 cm.)
Footnotes:
Literature
Liliane de Cock Morgan, ed., Ansel Adams (Hastings-on-Hudson, 1972), pl. 23
Ansel Adams: An Autobiography (Boston, 1985), p. 114
James Alinder and John Szarkowski, Ansel Adams: Classic Images (Boston, 1985), pl. 11
Mary Street Alinder, Ansel Adams: A Biography (New York, 1996), n.p.
Andrea G. Stillman, ed., Ansel Adams: California (Boston, 1997), pp. 16-7
Karen E. Haas and Rebecca A. Senf, Ansel Adams in the Lane Collection (Boston, 2005), pl. 21

Note
1932 was a momentous year for Ansel Adams as it marked the founding of Group f/64 – the photographic group with which he would be associated for the remainder of his career. Its landmark exhibition opened at the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco on 15 November and included work by fellow members Imogen Cunningham, John Paul Edwards, Preston Holder, Consuelo Kanaga, Alma Lavenson, Sonya Noskowiak, Henry Swift, Willard Van Dyke, Brett Weston, and Edward Weston.

In April 1932, Adams had awoken in San Francisco to find the sky awash with dense white clouds rolling across the Golden Gate. Collecting his equipment, including his 8 x 10-inch view camera, Adams dashed out to capture the expanse above the majestic strait. The resulting image, Golden Gate Before the Bridge, is a masterful example of Adams' ability to calculate exposure time. He took several images of this same scene using varied exposure times, relying exclusively on his own experience to gauge the natural light. Later that year, financed by print sales of this very image, Adams would purchase his first Weston light meter, which eliminated the need for guesswork in his exposure process.

Despite its title, Golden Gate Before the Bridge is not only a portrait of the strait, but it is also a tribute to the regal skies above it. With billowing clouds occupying nearly the entire frame, the image presages Adams' unwavering interest in capturing cloud formations in the decades to come. When he selected images for inclusion in the de Young exhibition, Adams chose three landscapes that he felt best represented his work, one of which was Golden Gate Before the Bridge.

Early prints of this image are scarce. Adams made this particular print sometime in the three years after he took the image, evidenced by the presence of his 'Photograph by Ansel Easton Adams, San Francisco' studio label on the reverse of the mount, which the photographer used between 1930 and 1935.

This gelatin silver print, trimmed to the image and mounted to creamy board, is in generally good to very good condition.

The following are visible upon inspection: a minute loss in the center of the image; a one-inch L-shaped scratch at the upper right edge; a 1/2-inch scratch just above the cliffs on the left; two 1/4-inch abrasions in the lower portion of the image, one at the lower edge and one in the mountains just left of center; and pinpoint-sized impressions in the cliffs on the right, just above the cliffs on the left, and intermittently throughout the bay, all of which appear to break the emulsion.

Upon examination under raking light, the following are visible: a few pinpoint-sized deposits of original retouching; scattered tiny impressions which do not appear to break the emulsion; two diagonal glossy swaths in the upper center portion and across the lower left corner; some hairline scratches and diagonal scuffs overall; a tiny raised area at the upper right edge, possibly a result of the mounting process; a matte area of scuffing in the lower left portion just beside the three boats; and one across the upper right corner.

There is some very minor wear to the print edges, and two tiny chips at the lower left corner. There are two tiny abrasions to the mount above the print and one just below. The window mat has been adhered to the mount, rendering a complete examination of the mount impossible.

The reverse of the mount is appropriately age-darkened. There are abrasions along the upper edge and in the center. The edges are worn with some intermittent losses. Sold framed.