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The Early History of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art Was No Democracy in Quality: Ansel Adams, Beaumont and Nancy Newhall, and the Founding of the Department of Photographs at the Museum of Modern Art Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors O'Toole, Erin Kathleen Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 26/09/2021 01:55:04 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/204109 NO DEMOCRACY IN QUALITY: ANSEL ADAMS, BEAUMONT AND NANCY NEWHALL, AND THE FOUNDING OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHS AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART By Erin Kathleen O‘Toole Copyright © Erin Kathleen O‘Toole 2010 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF ART In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN HISTORY AND THEORY OF ART In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2010 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Erin Kathleen O‘Toole entitled ―No Democracy in Quality: Ansel Adams, Beaumont and Nancy Newhall, and the Founding of the Department of Photographs at the Museum of Modern Art‖ and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 3/29/2010 Sarah J. Moore _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 3/29/2010 Douglas R. Nickel _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 3/29/2010 Keith McElroy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 3/29/2010 Susan A. Crane _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 3/29/2010 William Jenkins Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate‘s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: 3/29/2010 Dissertation Director: Douglas R. Nickel ________________________________________________ Date: 3/29/2010 Dissertation Director: Sarah J. Moore 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degreed at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Erin Kathleen O‘Toole 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to begin by thanking the many fabulous archivists and librarians who assisted me over the years: Leslie Calmes and Amy Rule of the Center for Creative Photography, MacKenzie Bennett and Michelle Harvey at the Archives of the Museum of Modern Art, Ted Wallbye at the Getty Research Institute, the staff of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale, and my colleagues Barbara Rominski, Andrew Pierce, and Mabel Cordero at SFMOMA. Enormous thanks also go to William Turnage for sharing his knowledge of all things Ansel, to David Scheinbaum and Janet Russek for granting me permission to use extensive unpublished material by Beaumont and Nancy Newhall, and to Peter Galassi, Director of the Department of Photographs at MoMA, who generously allowed me access to his department‘s historical files. My colleagues at SFMOMA have been an incredible source of support throughout the dissertation process. In addition to providing me with increasingly interesting and exciting opportunities at work, my supervisors Sandra Phillips and Corey Keller have generously allowed me to take time off to write and go on extended research trips. Thanks also go to Amanda Glesmann for her encouragement and her exemplary editorial assistance, and to Lisa Sutcliffe for her friendship and moral support. Former co-workers and fellow graduate students Makeda Best, Elizabeth Gand, and Jessica MacDonald have been invaluable sounding boards, interlocutors, and sage advisors. In Tucson I was fortunate to find a community of fellow students who were passionate about photography. Thanks to the entire ―Foto Bloc‖: Mary Statzer, Daphne Srinivasan, Emily Morgan, James Swensen, and Katie Samson for all the great discussions and camaraderie. Special thanks as well to Sarah Miller and Becky Senf for their generosity, advice and friendship. This dissertation originated in the first seminar I took with my advisor, Douglas Nickel, and evolved over extended discussions the two of us had on the subject. Unfailingly positive, patient, and generous of his time and ideas, Doug has been the best mentor I could have hoped for. I heartily thank him and the other members of my committee, Dr. Keith McElroy, William Jenkins, Dr. Susan A. Crane, and Dr. Sarah J. Moore, who served as my co-chair, for going above and beyond to provide me with the intellectual and personal support I needed to complete my graduate work. I am incredibly fortunate to have had such a great team behind me. On the home front, I could not have completed this dissertation without the love and unwavering support of my parents, James and Marilyn O‘Toole, and the encouragement of an extended group of family and friends, espeically Kerry O‘Toole, Eben and Leo Schwartz; Chris Burrill and Bernadette Grosjean; Frederick and Betty Burrill; Carole, Chuck, and Doug Magnuson; Tonia Lowe; Alice Koh; Amy Boe; Linda Mastrangelo and Eric Whitman; Richard Moore; Amanda Doenitz; Scott Nichols; Judy and Michael Schwartz; Martina Shenal and John Buchanan. Last but not least, I will be forever grateful to Greg Magnuson for the many sacrifices he has made so that I could realize my dreams. His love and encouragement enabled me to persevere through the many challenges of graduate school. 5 DEDICATION To all the O‘Tooles, Magnusons, Burrills and Schwartzes who supported and encouraged me throughout this long process, and most especially, to Greg. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS…….…….…………………………………………………………..7 ABSTRACT.….………..….…………...…………………………………………………………..9 INTRODUCTION………….………….………….……………………………………………...11 CHAPTER ONE: ―STRAIGHT‖ IS AN ATTITUDE: ANSEL ADAMS AND PHOTOGRAPHY AS MODERN ART.………….....…………………25 CHAPTER TWO: NEWHALL BEFORE ADAMS: THE HARVARD MODERNISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHY………………...…………………..66 CHAPTER THREE: THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE IN A ROCK: ANSEL ADAMS AND DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY……...........…...……………..102 CHAPTER FOUR: THE FOUNDING OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHS AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART….....………………………...140 CHAPTER FIVE: PROPAGANDA FOR FREEDOM….……..…..….….…...………………..185 CHAPTER SIX: NO DEMOCRACY IN QUALITY: THE NANCY NEWHALL YEARS…...……………………..…….…………..……………….228 CHAPTER SEVEN: OF MANZANAR AND MOMA……...……....………………………….267 CHAPTER EIGHT: THE END OF THE NEWHALL ERA..………...….……………………..288 CODA: A VAST PICTURE ARCHIVE OF SUBJECTS…....….....……..…………………….317 APPENDIX A: ANNOTATED CHRONOLOGY OF THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY AT MoMA, 1932–47…….…...................……………………………..325 APPENDIX B: PERMISSIONS……….……………………….…….…………………………332 REFERENCES......….…………….…………………………………………………………….336 7 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS [Included for reference only. The author did not seek permissions for illustrations.] Figure 1.1 Ansel Adams, Grove of Tamarack Pine, Near Timber Line, 1921 Figure 1.2 Ansel Adams, Frozen Lake and Cliffs, 1932 Figure 1.3 William Mortensen, Human Relations, 1932 Figure 3.1 Walker Evans, New York State Farm Interior, 1931 Figure 3.2 Ansel Adams, Ghost Town, Bodie, California, 1938 Figure 3.3 Walker Evans, Main Street block, Selma, Alabama, 1936 Figure 3.4 Ansel Adams, Itinerant, Merced, California, 1936 Figure 3.5 Walker Evans, Coal Dock Worker, 1932 Figure 3.6 Ansel Adams, Political Sign and Circus Posters, San Francisco, 1931 Figure 3.7 Ansel Adams, Architecture, Laurel Hill Cemetary, 1936 Figure 3.8 Walker Evans, Greek Revival Doorway, New York City, 1934 Figure 3.9 Ansel Adams, Courthouse, Mariposa, California, 1933 Figure 3.10 Walker Evans, Negro Church, South Carolina, 1936 Figure 3.11 Ansel Adams, Bishop Pass and the Inconsolable Range, 1936 Figure 3.12 Alfred Stieglitz, From the Shelton, ca. 1935 Figure 5.1 U.S. Camera Annual, 1939 (p. 58) Figure 5.2 U.S. Camera Annual, 1939 (p. 42) Figure 5.3 Edward Steichen, Hurray, Hurray for the U.S.A, 1939 Figure 5.4 U.S. Camera Annual, 1939 (p. 51) Figure 5.5. View of El Lissitsky‘s photofresco in the 1928 Pressa exhibition 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS––CONTINUED Figure 6.1 Cover of the Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art, Oct.–Nov. 1943 Figure 6.2 Alfred Stieglitz, Grasses, 1933 Figure 6.3 James Thrall Soby, Untitled (Rooftop composition), ca. 1935–40 Figure 6.4 James Thrall Soby, Untitled (Leonid Berman, Italy), 1937 Figure 6.5 Torkel Korling, First Tooth, 1939 (U.S. Camera Annual, 1939) Figure 6.6 ―May Cameralamanac,‖ Minicam (May 1941) Figure 7.1 Ansel Adams, ―Nurse Aiko Hamaguchi of the Manzanar Hospital (now relocated),‖ 1943 Figure 7.2 Ansel Adams, ―A
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