Valley of the Yosemite
Valley of the Yosemite (or Valley of the Yo-Semite) is a painting by Albert Bierstadt that was completed in 1864. Initially associated with the Hudson River School, Bierstadt rose to prominence for his paintings of the Rocky Mountains, which established him as one of the best painters of the western American landscape. His later paintings of Yosemite were also received with critical acclaim and public praise. Painting For his second trip West, in the summer of 1863, Bierstadt went with writer Fitz Hugh Ludlow to the West Coast of the United States. During the trip, Bierstadt spent several weeks doing en plein air studies in Yosemite Valley. Those studies were used as references for his future paintings, including this 1864 Valley of the Yosemite, which was painted in his New York studio. Since this painting was on a smaller scale than his other larger panoramic scenes and it was done on paperboard, it is often thought that it is a sketch for his significantly larger, Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California, which was painted a year later in 1865. Many versions of Valley of the Yosemite were painted by Bierstadt. Upon viewing Yosemite, Albert Bierstadt immediately wrote to his friend, John