Large-format albumen photograph mounted to original official War Department lithographic card stock. Imprinted: "Explorations in Nevada and Arizona. / Expedition of 1871 – Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler, Com'd'g" with credit "T. H. O'Sullivan, Phot." lower left, plate number "No. 16" lower right, and title centered below: "ALPINE LAKE IN THE SIERRA NEVADA, CALIFORNIA". Housed under mat in a period-style carved wood frame with a gilt liner. Expedition of 1871–1873, printed ca. 1874 - 1875. Image approx. 8 x 10 3/4 in.; sheet approx. 16 x 20 in.; frame 24 x 28 in.

A classic, contemplative high-altitude wilderness study captured by Timothy H. O'Sullivan (CA 1840-1882) during the landmark geographical and geological surveys west of the 100th meridian directed by First Lieutenant George Montague Wheeler. O'Sullivan, celebrated for his Civil War field photography and the King Survey, joined Lt. Wheeler's survey in 1871. Tasked with documenting the geology of the United States and enticing settlers to the vast American West with his photographs, O'Sullivan carried wet-plate apparatus through some of the most unforgiving terrain in the American West to produce his defining survey views. Looking past weathered timber pines and a boulder-strewn foreground, the composition offered here captures a tranquil Alpine Lake resting at the base of sheer granitic peaks of the Sierra Nevadas. This same iconic print is housed in major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and the The Art Institute of Chicago.

O'Sullivan's Wheeler Survey views stand as masterworks of 19th-century American landscape photography, distilling both rigorous topographical reconnaissance and sublime visual artistry.

[Timothy H. O'Sullivan, T.H. O'Sullivan, Wheeler Survey, War Department, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Lieutenant George M. Wheeler, Sierra Nevada, Alpine Lake, California, High Sierra, Western Survey, Mammoth Plate, Albumen Print, 1870s Photography]

Very good condition. The albumen displays rich chocolate tones, excellent range, and sharp focal clarity throughout. The original survey mount shows honest, faint age toning and minor peripheral mat burn well outside the image and printed titles, with all lithographic text and the War Department crest remaining crisp and bold. Not examined out of frame.