Phoenix Art Museum

I know what you’re thinking.  John & Linda at an Art Museum??? Well, we went and enjoyed ourselves. I read that there was a special exhibit of Ansel Adams photographs at the museum.  That probably explains a lot.  He’s one of our favorite artists, and seeing original photographs that he created and printed himself was very special.  They also had some videos of Ansel working in his darkroom printing some of his pictures.

They had over 200 unique pictures in a very large area that was well lit and spacious.  And there wasn’t a very big crowd when we got there around 4:00pm.  Wednesday, between 3 and 9, admission to the museum is available for a donation.  So we were able to get close to the pictures without crowds and take our time in viewing pictures from different places, taken at different times. 

One of his most famous pictures is Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico (1948).  It sold at auction for $609,600 in 2006.  We got to see 3 different versions of the print, created at different times, along with an video of Ansel explaining how he took the picture.

They also had my personal favorite photo, naturally taken in Yosemite.

This copy doesn’t do the picture justice.  It’s called Tanaya Creek, Dogwood, Rain.  If you’re visiting Yosemite, make sure you stop in the Ansel Adams Gallery to see this picture in person.