2637 Ft. Yosemite Fall, Front View
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 40.9 x 51.3 cm (16 1/8 x 20 3/16 in.), arch-topped Mount: 53.6 x 67 cm (21 1/8 x 26 3/8 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.1183
Tags
Art Historical Context
Carleton E. Watkins'2637 Ft. Yosemite, Front View* (1861) captures the awe-inspiring power of Yosemite's tallest waterfall in a monumental front-facing composition. Taken during Watkins' groundbreaking expedition to Yosemite Valley, this image showcases the cascade's sheer 2,637-foot drop against rugged mountain backdrops, evoking the grandeur of the American West. As one of the era's premier landscape photographers, Watkins transported viewers to untouched wilderness through his masterful framing, emphasizing nature's scale and drama. Printed as an albumen silver print from a large glass neg...
About the Artist
Carleton E. Watkins · 1829–1916
Carleton E. Watkins (1829–1916), one of America's pioneering landscape photographers, was born on November 11, 1829, in Oneonta, New York, the eldest of eight children to carpenter John Watkins and innkeeper Julia. Drawn by the Gold Rush, he arrived in San Francisco in 1851 at age 22 alongside childhood friend Collis Huntington, who later became a railroad tycoon. Initially working as a carpenter ...