George Barker
Cave of the Winds, Niagara Falls

ArtistCanadian, 1844–1894
CultureCanadian
Titles
  • Cave of the Winds, Niagara Falls
Datec. 1890
Place depictedNiagara Falls, New York, United States
MediumAlbumen silver print from glass negative
DimensionsImage: 19 7/16 × 16 in. (49.4 × 40.6 cm)
Sheet: 19 7/16 × 16 in. (49.4 × 40.6 cm)
Mount: 27 1/4 × 20 3/4 in. (69.2 × 52.7 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Krista and Michael Dumas
Object number2016.129
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

Although
born in Canada, George Barker moved to Niagara Falls, New York, in the early
1860s and eventually earned fame for mammoth-plate photographs that viscerally
conveyed the scale and sublime nature of the falls. Adding a bit of his own
artistry to nature’s handiwork, Barker frequently printed dramatic clouds from
a second negative, as in this particularly strong and well-preserved print.
Visitors to the Cave of the Winds, we are told in a guidebook of the period,
passed the huge “Rock of Ages” (seen here in the foreground) and descended
along “rough wooden bridges, through clouds of spray . . . [and] little pools
among the rocks, where miniature Niagaras form plunge baths unequaled
anywhere.”




Provenance[Swann Galleries, New York, May 15, 2008, lot 269]; private collector; [Alan Klotz Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed verso of print, TLC: Cave of the winds // Niagara [ print is mounted, text bleeds through and is visible backwards on recto of print]

Inscribed verso of print, LC: Horseshoe [?] Falls // Niagara [print is mounted, text bleeds through and is visible backwards on recto of print]

[no inscription verso of mount]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

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