The David H. Arrington Collection Of Ansel Adams Photographs

“The continuous beauty of the things that are.” - Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) became the leading photographer of the mid-twentieth century in part because he had the energy of a dozen men. His artistic mastery of photography was matched by his voluminous writing about photography’s technical and aesthetic components, hundreds of exhibitions, and thousands of published illustrations in books and magazines. His legendary abilities as an outdoorsman, his conservation work with the Sierra Club, and his ebullient personality also contributed to his fame and success.

The David H. Arrington Collection of Ansel Adams photographs is one of the most comprehensive ever assembled and constitutes the largest privately owned collection with over 600 photographs.

The David H. Arrington Ansel Adams Collection includes some of Adams's earliest photographs; a substantial group of photographs taken in Yosemite Valley, California in the 1920s and 30s; and examples of his most famous photograph, "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico," 1941, printed between 1941 and 1975. Additionally, the collection contains many superlative examples of Adams's vintage masterworks, and showcases hundreds of less well known images that convey the full scope of Adams's extraordinary vision during his most creative years.

David H. Arrington

David Arrington is a Midland, Texas oilman whose passion for Ansel Adams began when he was a young photographer studying Adams’ methodology and avidly reading his books. Arrington and his friends formed a photo club called Group f.32 in homage to Adams’ Group f.64, a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement that they were never going to be as “sharp” as Adams. Over the years Arrington turned his energies to collecting photographs by the master with the intention of sharing his collection of Adams photographs with the public.   Prints from his collection have been exhibited in national and international museums. The David H. Arrington Collection of Ansel Adams Photographs contains the most exquisite examples of his most iconic works, as well as lesser-known masterpieces.

For information on bringing the exhibitions from the collection to your museum please contact the Andrew Smith Gallery.