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 TextBy the early 1860s, Bierstadt achieved international fame for his series of monumental landscapes celebrating the American frontier. During his second trip West in 1863, the German-American artist created sketches of Yosemite Falls, or ‘Cho-looke’ as termed by the region’s Miwok people, Ahwahneechee. Though modest in scale compared to his other expansive views, Yosemite Falls conveys the natural beauty and grandeur of the region through an interplay of atmospheric effects. The massive precipice and hazy mist of the falls, as well as the river’s reflective surface below, are elements that idealized westward expansion and promoted the conservation of national parks, yet overshadowed the forced displacement of Yosemite Valley’s indigenous population by the California State Militia in 1851.ProvenanceJames C. Gill's, Springfield, MA, ?-1894; William H. Sawyer, Worcester, 1894-?; Mrs. William H. Sawyer, Jr., Worcester, ?; Mrs. Arthur Lowery, Worcester, ?-1954; WAM, 1954On View
Not on view
