Discussion in Art, San Francisco

Ansel Adams was internationally known for his majestic depictions of the American West, made with a clarity and sharpness that embraced the photographic spectrum from darkest black to brightest white. Calling Adams “the one unshakable center in photography,” Hugh Edwards greatly admired his work and acquired nearly 60 of his photographs for the museum. This much more intimate image implies parallels between photography and painting, as the men in a passionate “discussion in art” mirror the forms of the Renaissance painting behind them. This print was a gift to the museum from Katherine Kuh—who had given Adams a one-man show at her Chicago gallery before becoming a curator at the Art Institute—the year that Edwards was named curator of photography.