Historic Spanish Record of the Conquest, South Side of Inscription Rock, N.M.
<p>Following the end of the American Civil War, the United States Congress sponsored several major expeditions to chart the western lands, still largely unknown in terms of geography and resources. Such surveys brought together scientists, topographers, and photographers to document their findings. In 1871 Timothy O'Sullivan, who had proven his proficiency in field photography during the war and on an earlier western expedition, was asked by George M. Wheeler to join a government survey of lands west of the 100th Meridian. Survey objectives included achieving a more precise record of the U.S.-Mexico border and studying rocks and plant life, as well as facilitating future commercial development. Factual and blunt, yet sophisticated in composition and often unexpectedly self-referential, O'Sullivan's pictures have intrigued modern viewers. In this image of Inscription Rock in modern New Mexico, which bears the chiseled record of the passage of a Spaniard centuries earlier, he slyly puns on the word "ruler" and suggests perhaps that his own recording equipment can measure and surpass the record of that earlier conquest.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1873
- Dimensions
- Image/paper: 20.3 × 27.4 cm (8 × 10 13/16 in.); Mount: 40.7 × 50.7 cm (16 1/16 × 20 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Timothy O'Sullivan
Artist
Printmaking
Timothy O'Sullivan was an American photographer who documented the American West and geological surveys during the 1870s, producing some of the earliest large-format landscape photographs of the region. Working with wet collodion on glass plates, he captured vast canyon formations, mining operations, and indigenous settlements with a formal, architectural precision that transformed landscape photography into a scientific instrument. His work appeared in official U.S. Geological Surveys and established photography as essential to westward exploration and territorial mapping.
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More by Timothy O'Sullivan
Ute Braves, of the Kah-poh-teh band, Northern New Mexico, in "full dress", No. 40 from the series "Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian"
1874 · Albumen print, stereo
Jicarilla Apache Brave and Squaw, lately wedded. Abiquiu Agency, New Mexico
1874 · Albumen print, stereo
One of the group of Pagosa Hot Springs, showing incrustation on the surface. Much prized by the Indians and miners on account of supposed healing qualities. Principal mineral element, Sulphate of Soda, No. 38 from the series "Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian"
1874 · Albumen print, stereo
Cañon, Valley of the Conejos River, looking south from vicinity of "Lost Lakes", No. 36 from the series "Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian"
1874 · Albumen print, stereo
Alpine Lake, in the Cerro Blanco Mountains, Colorado. One of a group of ten lakes at the main head of Ute Creek. 11.000 feet above sea-level. Cerro Blanco Peak rises 14.269 feet abov the sea, lying to the westward, No. 45 from the series "Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian"
1874 · Albumen print, stereo
Shee-zah-nan-tan, Jicarilla Apache Brave in characteristic Costume, Northern New Mexico, No. 42 from the series "Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian"
1874 · Albumen print, stereo
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Timothy O'Sullivan
- Year
- 1873
- Dimensions
- Image/paper: 20.3 × 27.4 cm (8 × 10 13/16 in.); Mount: 40.7 × 50.7 cm (16 1/16 × 20 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1873-106575
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified