Lava Formation (from the New Mexico Portfolio)
Artist
Arthur Lazar
(American, born 1940)
Date1970 (printed 1976)
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 × 12 in. (22.9 × 30.5 cm)
Support: 10 7/8 × 13 11/16 in. (27.6 × 34.8 cm)
Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Support: 10 7/8 × 13 11/16 in. (27.6 × 34.8 cm)
Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds from the public contribution box, 1978
Object number3966.23PH
DescriptionA close up image of lava formations. The formations have a square, block-like shape, especially those at the lower center. The rocks are highlighted along the lower center and right side. At the left is a large formation that ends with a cliff-like side, which is covered in shadow.eMuseum Notes
According to the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in Socorro, the Bandera basaltic lava flows of the Zuni-Bandera lava fields originated from Bandera Crater, a double cinder cone about 150 m high and 1 km in diameter that erupted about 10,000 years ago. Moisture gathering in a collapsed lava tube in the area resulted in a natural ice cave where the temperature remains a steady 31 degrees Fahrenheit and which has been accumulating ice for several thousand years. The crater and ice cave became a family operated tourist attraction in the 1900s.
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