A West Texas oilman’s mural-sized print of an Ansel Adams photo has sold for almost $1 million at auction
DALLAS — A West Texas oilman’s mural-sized print of an Ansel Adams photo has sold for nearly $1 million at an auction.
Sotheby’s New York, the auction house, said Tuesday that “The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming” sold for $988,000, a record price for Adams at auction.
The photograph, taken on commission for the Department of Interior in 1942, shows a view of the mountains over Jackson Hole. Sotheby’s said it’s believed to be one of less than 10 mural-sized prints of the image in existence and was acquired from the photographer’s descendants.
David Arrington collected 119 works, including single prints and portfolios, which were sold at auction Monday for $6.4 million, Sotheby’s said
Sotheby’s said Arrington, 60, has been interested in photography since he was a teen. Arrington said in a video posted on the auction house’s website that he’s collected 650 of Adams’ photographs, and that it was time to let go of some.
“I’ve been asked numerous times: How come you collected so many of one artist? And the only thing I could come up with was: I’m a Texan, and we overdo everything,” Arrington said in the video.