Yosemite Falls
Artist
Albert Bierstadt
American, born in Germany, 1830–1902
Date1865–1870
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 91.4 × 66.4 cm (36 × 26 1/8 in.)
framed: 114.3 × 87.2 cm (45 × 34 5/16 in.)
framed: 114.3 × 87.2 cm (45 × 34 5/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift from the Estate of Mrs. William H. Sawyer, Jr.
Object number1954.66
Label TextBierstadt, who accompanied early government expeditions surveying the Rocky Mountains (1859) and Yosemite Valley (1863), achieved international celebrity for his landscapes of the American West. In this image of Yosemite Falls—or "Cho-looke" as termed by the Indigenous Ahwahneechee people—he heightened the dramatic effect of the scene through the vertical format of the canvas and the interplay of bright sunlight and misty atmosphere.Birstadt's paintings enthralled East coast audiences hungry for pictures of the expanding country. They also fostered national pride, affirming popular claims that the American West rivaled Europe's great Alps in natural grandeur.ProvenanceJames C. Gill's, Springfield, MA, ?-1894; William H. Sawyer, Worcester, 1894-?; Mrs. William H. Sawyer, Jr., Worcester, ?; Mrs. Arthur Lowery, Worcester, ?-1954; WAM, 1954
On View
On viewCurrent Location
- Exhibition Location Gallery 3002
