Yosemite Falls
ca. 1865-1866, printed after 1875
Medium
Photography-Photoprint
Classification
Photography-Photoprint
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Accession Number
1994.91.282
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the majestic world of Yosemite Falls through Carleton E. Watkins' captivating photograph, *Yosemite Falls* (ca. 1865-1866, printed after 1875). This photoprint, now housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, showcases the artist's pioneering work in documenting California's awe-inspiring natural wonders. Watkins, a master of 19th-century landscape photography, ventured into Yosemite National Park with his massive camera equipment to capture the sheer power and beauty of the towering waterfalls cascading down granite cliffs. Taken during Watkins' expeditions in the mid-1860s, thi...
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 ...