LOCOMOTIVE AND TUNNEL #3, WEBER CANON, UTAH, BY A.J. RUSSELL
$700. USD
This antique photograph is unsigned.
We are looking at the Union Pacific Railroad. The locomotive looks sleek in the lower left corner. There are two men and a flatbed behind. "U.P.R.R" is painted on the side. It's painted again, but only the "U.P." remains. Then there's a box car with "932" on the end, and "U.P.R.R." and "932" on the side. Another man stands on another flatbed. This one is also painted with: "U.P.R.R." Tunnel #3 is beyond the bridge, with a man standing at the entrance.
This print was coated with a varnish process so that you cannot feel the edge of the photograph. Western photographers experimented with processes like this, especially in the smaller Carte de Visite (CDV) format.
SIZE. Approximately 11 1/2 x 14 5/8 inches.
CONDITION. Wrinkles. Discoloration. When tilted, scuffing is apparent. Lower right corner of border has a crease and wear. Back has spots, soiling, and an area of surface wear.
APPEARANCE. Glossy. Especially rich tones. 10 out of 10 on the tonal spectrum.
ANDREW JOSEPH RUSSELL (1829 - 1902). "Russell served as a captain in the U.S. Military Railroad Construction Corps. Like many other photographers during the Civil War, he later became a survey photographer in the western territories. He was also a skilled painter and journalist, reporting on local events for the Omaha Nunda News. In photography, however, Russell found a medium that suited his western subject. In 1865 Russell became the official photographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. With an artist's eye, he often selected views that juxtaposed monumental geological elements to manmade structures such as railroad and telegraph poles. Men and women appear in Russell's pictures, although they are often dwarfed by the vast landscape. Acknowledging both the technical triumph of the railroad and the scenic grandeur of the landscape, the photographs suggest the possibility of their coexistence. In 1869 the railroad published an album of Russell's photographs of railroad construction in Wyoming and Utah titled The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photographic Views Across the Continent Taken Along the Line of the Union Pacific Railroad, West from Omaha, Nebraska. In the early 1870s Russell left the Union Pacific Railroad and returned to New York." (source: Smithsonian American Art Museum website)
