Half Dome, Yosemite
Classification
landscapes
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Thomas Moran
Accession Number
1917-17-32
About this artwork
Vertical vista features the granite peak of Half Dome, Yosemite, looming between boulders in the foreground and snowcapped mountains in the distance. In foreground, jutting rocks at center, pine trees and spruce at right.
Art Historical Context
Thomas Moran's *Half Dome, Yosemite* (1873) captures the awe-inspiring grandeur of California's Yosemite Valley, a vertical vista dominated by the iconic granite peak of Half Dome. Rising dramatically between foreground boulders and distant snowcapped mountains, the composition draws the viewer into nature's sublime scale. Jutting rocks anchor the center, while pine trees and spruce at the right add textured depth, evoking the rugged wilderness Moran encountered during his Western expeditions. As a leading figure in 19th-century American landscape painting, Moran—born in Britain but a definin...