Notes from Underground

Our Photo of the Week is drawn from the Carter’s collection of over 100 works by 19th century photographer Carleton Watkins. This albumen silver print, Commencement of the Whitney Glacier, Summit of Mt. Shasta, is currently on loan to the Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, California, for their exhibition The Art of Mount Shasta.

Carleton Watkins (1829-1916), Commencement of the Whitney Glacier, Summit of Mt. Shasta, 1870, albumen silver print ca. 1876

The Whitney Glacier is one of seven glaciers found on Mount Shasta, which is located in northern California near the Oregon border. While 90% of the world’s glacier’s are shrinking, the Whitney Glacier is of special interest today because it is one of very few glaciers in the world actually growing as a result of global warming. Apparently warming of the Pacific Ocean has caused increased snowfall in northern California, accounting for 30% growth of the Whitney Glacier in the past 50 years.

Commencement of the Whitney Glacier, Summit of Mt. Shasta is on view at Turtle Bay Exploration Park through May 3, 2010.

If you've driven anywhere near the Cultural District lately, you've probably noticed that midway rides and legions of horse trailers have once again descended upon Fort Worth for the Stock Show, which opens this Friday. This week I'm sharing a few historical Stock Show photographs from the Carter's Erwin E. Smith archive. These images date back to the mid-1920s, when the Stock Show was still held in the stockyards and the world's first indoor rodeo was held in the arena now known as Cowtown Coliseum (the event was moved to the west side of town in the 1940s).

Erwin E. Smith, A group of rodeo officials standing in front of the General Offices of the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth, Texas, 1925-1940, gelatin dry plate negative, Erwin E. Smith Collection of the Library of Congress on Deposit at the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Erwin E. Smith, [Rodeo grand entry, Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show Rodeo, Fort Worth, Texas], glass plate negative, ca. 1925-1926, Bequest of Mary Alice Pettis

Erwin E. Smith, Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show Rodeo, Fort Worth, Texas, glass plate negative, ca. 1925-1926, Bequest of Mary Alice Pettis

Erwin E. Smith, Riding a tough one, [Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show Rodeo, Fort Worth, Texas] , gelatin dry plate negative, ca. 1925-1926, Erwin E. Smith Collection of the Library of Congress on Deposit at the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Erwin E. Smith, A rodeo performer throwing a loop over a horse and rider as they race by him, [Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show Rodeo, Fort Worth, Texas] , gelatin dry plate negative. ca. 1925-1926, Erwin E. Smith Collection of the Library of Congress on Deposit at the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Snow twice in one week?! Where ARE we? Since it looks like we north Texans might ring in a slushy 2010, our photos this week are examples of two snowy New Year's Eves in other parts of the world.

Eliot Porter (1901-1990), View from Monastery Nunatak, Dry Valleys, Antarctica, December 31, 1975, dye transfer print, Bequest of the artist, ©1990 Amon Carter Museum

Brent W. Phelps (b. 1946), View West Toward Original Fort Mandan Site from Highway 200, North Dakota, December 31, 2000 [47° 14' 37" N -- 101° 11' 34" W], 2000, dye coupler print, © 2000 Brent W. Phelps

As you might have heard, the Carter acquired a rare, complete set of Edward Curtis's The North American Indian, a 20-volume publication documenting American Indian life. Starting tomorrow, a selection of photogravures from the set will be on view in the Carter's photography galleries.

Only a few Carter staff have had the opportunity to see all 723 of the Curtis photogravures, and I was lucky to be one of them. I catalog all new art acquisitions at the museum, so I have seen each one of these photographs and, of course, have a few favorites. The quality of the whole set is pretty amazing, but these images really stood out to me because they are so different from the Carter's other collections documenting the lives of Native Americans.

Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), Waiting in the Forest - Cheyenne, photogravure, 1911, Purchase with the assistance of an anonymous donor

Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), Watching the Dancers, photogravure, 1922, Purchase with the assistance of an anonymous donor

Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), Kotsuis and Hohhuq - Nakoaktok, photogravure, 1915, Purchase with the assistance of an anonymous donor

Edward S. Curtis: The North American Indian is on view through May 16, 2010.