This is a beautiful black and white photograph taken by Ansel Adams in 1942. The photograph depicts the front entrance of the Mission of Saint Geronimo, a Spanish mission in Taos, New Mexico, and it comes from a series of photographs he took between 1933 and 1942 to document the national parks and historic landmarks in the Western part of the United states. The photograph has a National Archives record on the back which says A Mural Project - Ansel Adams, U.S. Doc No. 79-AAQ-1”. That is the local identifier number for the National Archives building in College Park, Maryland. Ansel Adams was one of the greatest American nature and landscape photographers of the 20th century; the United States Department of the Interior commissioned Adams to create a mural project that documented the country’s national parks, and this was one of the photographs he took for the project. You can see the photo in a newer book called “Ansel Adams: The National Parks Service Photographs”, published in 1995 by Artabras. The photograph is not signed. It comes from the estate of a deceased collector, and the original price of the photo was $12,000. We have contacted the National Archives to get more information about the photograph, but have not heard back from them yet. The frame measures 25 x 20 in. wide, the mat is 24 x 19 in. wide, and the image size is 19 5/8 x 14 3/4 in. wide. Please note that all sales are final. No refunds will be given under any circumstances.