VITTORIO SELLA. Les Rouies, Pic D'Olan. Panorama from the summit of La Grande Ruine, 12,267 feet, c. 1879-1892, Sella number AI 490-493. 11.1x55.5" 3 collodion prints, printed c. 1893, mounted on 12x57" brown board.

1. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 490 Monte Viso, Pic de Neige Cordier, Grande Sagne. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso: A1 Dauphiny; stamped in black ink: Depose / Tous Droits Reserves / V. Sella - Biella; inscribed in ink: Alpes / 490-493 / Panorama G. Ruine / 3740 met.; inscribed in pencil: 490-493.
2. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 491. Pelvoux, Les Ecrins.
3. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 492. Ailefroide, Les Bans, Le Vaxivier.
4. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 493. Les Rouies, Pic d'Olan; inscribed in pencil: AI. Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner.

"Sella's photography was accomplished using orthochromatic plates which are sensitive to all colors of light except those of the red regions of the spectrum. Skies were rendered light gray, and foliage medium gray; atmospheric space was well recorded, and as there was little red in the general subject matter, "panchromatic" materials would have offered slight advantage. Color filters were undoubtedly used to reduce the values of the sky and to bring snow and clouds into vigorous relief." - Ansel Adams

During his lifetime Vittorio Sella was celebrated for the photographs he exhibited from his daring expeditions. According to one reviewer, his annual exhibition of mountain photographs at the Alpine Club in London was "inconveniently crowded." Sella sold his prints to people from Italy, France, Germany, and England, and was represented by a London dealer named Spooner. His photographs satisfied a growing public hunger to know more about distant places on the earth that few would ever see first-hand, while providing a satisfying blend of artistic, scientific, intellectual, and even spiritual elements. Sella's primary goal was to provide the empirical evidence of what he and his party had seen on their expeditions, and to convey reality as it was perceived by the human eye. His approach was governed by rigorous technical and aesthetic standards that he called "la realta severe" - severe reality.

Good: Vertical line abrasions in emulsion first and third panels from being folded, edges of prints lifting with abrasions where panels meet other moderate wear and abrasions. Mount with pinholes, severe wear, missing pieces fragile.