Rock of Ages # 22, Abandoned Section, Wells-Lamson Quarry, Barre, Vermont
A monumental photograph by Edward Burtynsky depicting the dramatic, striated granite walls of the abandoned section of the Wells-Lamson Quarry in Barre, Vermont, revealing the profound marks left by decades of industrial extraction. Burtynsky's signature aerial and large-format perspective transforms the scarred rock face into an almost abstract composition, emphasizing the tension between human industry and the raw power of the natural landscape. This artist's proof, from an edition of five, exemplifies Burtynsky's celebrated ability to find haunting beauty in sites of environmental transformation.
- Medium
- Signed in ink, printed title, date and number AP1 on a label affixed to the reverse of the flush-mount. One from an edition of 5 plus artist's proofs.
- Location
- Phillips, Salt Lake City, UT
- Spotted At
- Auction House · PhillipsView on map
🔨 Auction Lot
Photographs
April 3, 2013
Artists in conversation
Andreas Gursky
German · b. 1955
Gursky similarly uses large format photography to transform industrial and natural landscapes into monumental, near abstract compositions, sharing Burtynsky's ability to reveal the overwhelming scale of human intervention upon the earth's surface.
David Maisel
American · b. 1961
Maisel photographs sites of industrial extraction and environmental transformation from aerial perspectives, producing large scale works that oscillate between documentary evidence and abstract painterly composition in a manner directly comparable to this quarry photograph.
Peter Goin
American · b. 1951
Goin works within the tradition of large format landscape photography focused on industrially altered terrain and resource extraction sites, producing earth toned documentary images that examine the tension between human industry and the geological power of the natural world.
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