Eliot Porter
Cirio tree, Near Las Tres Vírgenes Volcano, near Mezquital, Baja California

Cirio tree, Near Las Tres Vírgenes Volcano, near Mezquital, Baja California

© 1990, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas

Cirio tree, Near Las Tres Vírgenes Volcano, near Mezquital, Baja California
Cirio tree, Near Las Tres Vírgenes Volcano, near Mezquital, Baja California
ArtistAmerican, 1901–1990
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Cirio tree, Near Las Tres Vírgenes Volcano, near Mezquital, Baja California
  • from the series Intimate Landscapes
DateJuly 31, 1966, printed 1978
Place depictedMezquital, Mexico
MediumDye imbibition print
DimensionsImage: 10 1/4 x 8 3/16 in. (26 x 20.8 cm)
Sheet: 10 1/4 × 8 3/16 in. (26 × 20.8 cm)
Mount: 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mathew Wolf
Object number82.528.33
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

For
Eliot Porter, the vibrant colors of the world played an essential role in his
mission to photograph the beauty of nature. Throughout his 50-year career, he used
the dye-transfer technique of color printing, a process whereby three layers of
dye are superimposed on gelatin-coated paper to produce an image rich in tone
and more permanent than typical color photographs. Unlike the sweeping
black-and-white landscape images of Ansel Adams, Porter’s photographs offer a
sense of proximity, highlighting specific elements of the landscape.



 



This
image was one of 55 by Porter featured in Intimate
Landscapes
, one of the first exhibitions of color photographs at New York’s
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Porter captures the fantastical twists of a cirio
tree in Baja California, Mexico, against a cloudless blue sky. He photographed
the Baja California region for the environmental organization the Sierra Club,
where his work, like that of Adams, helped expand the organization’s reach
internationally.




ProvenanceMathew Wolf, Houston; given to MFAH, 1982.
Exhibition HistoryExhibited: "Eliot Porter: Intimate Landscapes," Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ocean Springs, MS, Oct 2 - Nov 30, 1992(LN:92.10)
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
bottom right below image in pencil "Eliot Porter"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Sunset behind Las Tres Vírgenes Volcano, Near Mezquital, Baja California
Eliot Porter
August 12, 1966, printed 1978
Dye imbibition print
82.528.53
Las Tres Virgenes Volcano at Sunset, near Mezquital, Baja California, Mexico
Eliot Porter
August 12, 1966, printed 1981
Dye imbibition print
2013.722
Elephant tree in bloom, Near El Mármol, Baja California, from the series Intimate Landscapes
Eliot Porter
July 28, 1966, printed 1978
Dye imbibition print
82.528.19
Lichen-covered boulder, Between San Javier and Comondú, Baja California
Eliot Porter
March 9, 1964, printed 1978
Dye imbibition print
82.528.43
Into the clouds from the rim, Alcedo Volcano, Galápagos Islands
Eliot Porter
May 4, 1966, printed 1978
Dye imbibition print
82.528.52
White Aspen and Hillside, Near Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Eliot Porter
c. 1968
Dye imbibition print
2000.658
Red Trees near Cades Cove
Eliot Porter
c. 1967
Dye imbibition print
2000.659
Taos River canyon, Near Taos, New Mexico, from the series Intimate Landscapes
Eliot Porter
October 16, 1962, printed 1978
Dye imbibition print
82.528.34
Dungeon Canyon, Near Glen Canyon, Utah, from the series Intimate Landscapes
Eliot Porter
August 29, 1961, printed 1978
Dye imbibition print
82.528.30