Early Morning, Yosemite Valley
Artist
Thomas Hill
(American, 1829-1908)
CultureAmerican
Date1884
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions53 1/2 × 36 in. (135.9 × 91.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 62 × 44 1/2 × 2 in. (157.5 × 113 × 5.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 62 × 44 1/2 × 2 in. (157.5 × 113 × 5.1 cm)
InscribedSigned lower left: "T. Hill" and dated "1884".
Credit LineGift of Edward J. Brickhouse
Object number64.51.4
Not on view
DescriptionOil on canvas painting showing Yosemite Valley in the morning. El Capitan and Bridalveil Fall are depicted. The valley has a waterfall on the right side and trees in the foreground. A group of three deer look towards the viewer.Label TextThomas Hill American, 1829–1908 Early Morning, Yosemite Valley, 1884 Oil on canvas Golden sunlight spills into the hazy depths of the Yosemite Valley, washing across the steep face of El Capitan on the left. The thin stream of Bridalveil Fall tumbles down on the right, its lower reaches dissolving into clouds of mist. President Lincoln signed a bill in 1864 to protect Yosemite from development, and by the 1880s, paintings and photographs had made these geological landmarks familiar to many Americans. Like Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, and other painters, Thomas Hill traveled west to see and sketch these sights firsthand. Hill settled permanently in California in 1873 for easy access to Yosemite and other picturesque subjects. Gift of Edward J. Brickhouse 64.51.4 Exhibition History"Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. Shown in conjunction with "Kim Keever: Mountains, Forests, and Ocean Shores," and "Jean-Pierre Roy," Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, Virginia, July 21 - December 30, 2011. "By Popular Demand: Your Selections, Your Gallery," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, May 10 - August 31, 2014. “In Search of the True Landscape,” Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede, NL, February 18 – June 9, 2024.Published ReferencesHenk van der Liet et. al., _Het internationale landschap: Schilderen in de buitenlucht in de negentiende eeuw_, (Zwolle: Waanders Uitgevers with Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede, 2023) 2.
