Rare Ansel Adams Print of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Acquired By Knoxville Art Museum

Ansel Adams (1902-1984), Dawn, Autumn Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, 1948, Silver gelatin print; printed c. 1970-76, Gift of Patricia and Alan Rutenberg and Mary Ellen and Steve Brewington, 19.25 x 14.25 inches, © 2009 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

A rare shot of Great Smoky Mountains National Park taken by Ansel Adams shortly after World War II has been acquired by a Knoxville, Tennessee, museum.

The Knoxville Museum of Art was able to acquire Dawn, Autumn Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, 1948, which was taken by Mr. Adams as part of his work on a Guggenheim Fellowship to document America's national parks and monuments. The trip to the Smokies was reportedly his first and only visit to Tennessee.

While Yosemite National Park offered the photographer dazzling waterfalls, granite domes, and shimmering lakes for his cameras, the Smokies were a bit more challenging for him.

“The Smokys [sic] are OK in their way, but they are going to be devilish hard to photograph...,” he wrote a friend in October 1948.

The legendary photographer published just four images from his visit.  Prints of these are little known and exceedingly rare. The Knoxville Museum of Art was able to acquire one of the four, Dawn, Autumn Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, thanks to generous financial support from Patricia and Alan Rutenberg and Mary Ellen and Steve Brewington. 

"The museum has recently refined its mission to include the rich history of the visual arts in East Tennessee; the acquisition of this masterwork by Ansel Adams represents a strong commitment to this exciting new direction, said David Butler, the museum's executive director. "This photograph is just one of the many high points in a long, fascinating, and largely unknown story that the KMA is proud to celebrate."

The photograph will be on display in the museum's main lobby before being incorporated into Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee, the museum's permanent installation devoted to the art and artists of our region.  

The KMA is seeking prints of Adams’ other three published images of the Smoky Mountains with the hope that it can become the first museum to acquire a complete set.

The museum is located in downtown Knoxville at 1050 World’s Fair Park and is open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 10 am–5 pm, Friday 10 am–8 pm, and Sunday 1 pm-5 pm. Admission and parking are free.