Ansel Adams and the American West, Results

Taking place earlier this week, Christie’s New York hosted Ansel Adams and the American West – a collection of 150 prints by Adams from the collection of the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona (for whom Adams was a founding member).

Ansel Adams captured the American landscape in an unforgettable manner and out of a deep love of nature, he illuminated the details and grandeur of wide-open vistas of sites like Yosemite, the California coast, New Mexico and Wyoming. His lifelong work left its mark on American culture for generations to come. Offered at accessible price points, we encourage you to take home a piece of history — all proceeds go to establish an acquisition fund for CCP.

Christie’s New York

The auction is the first of three spotlighting Ansel Adams, with a further two auctions scheduled for 2020 taking place online. This auction raised $1,098,250 with proceeds going to the Centre for Creative Photography.

The most expensive lot was the well-regarded Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico taken in 1941 with an original estimate of $30,000-$50,000. The print saw a hammer price of $75,000.

Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite Valley, California was the second most expensive lot, also surpassing its original estimate of $30,000-$50,000 by selling for $60,000, and The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming took third place with a hammer price of $58,750 after an estimate of $20,000-$30,000.

View lots from this auction and their prices at Christie’s webpage here. Click on print names to view the top three most expensive prints from this auction.

View other December auctions in this previous post.