With its distinct selection of images and the characteristically high quality of its photographic printing, Ansel Adams’s Portfolio Four stands out as one the photographer’s most sophisticated publishing projects. For this portfolio, published in 1963, Adams chose images from the many decades of his career up to that point. The photographs showcase his incomparable artistry, as well as his deep concern for natural beauty and its preservation – convictions he shared with his friend Russel Varian, to whose memory he dedicated this portfolio. Each photograph is paired with a quote by Varian and the poetry of John Osborne Varian, Russell’s father, printed on its paper folio.
This example of Ansel Adams’s Portfolio Four: What Magnificent Word was gifted to Dorothy Varian, wife of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Russell Varian. It was given to help secure Varian’s dream of protecting what is now Castle Rock State Park in California, which contains lands that Varian loved. Dorothy Varian fulfilled her husband’s dream after his death in 1959. She worked with Sempervirens Fund to create Castle Rock State Park in 1968. This portfolio was bequeathed to Sempervirens Fund in her will to help benefit the park.
Sempervirens Fund is California's first land trust, founded in 1900 to protect redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains. Proceeds from the sale of Ansel Adams’s Portfolio Four: What Magnificent Word will support the ongoing care, expansion, and recreational experiences at Castle Rock State Park, in Los Gatos, California.