| Date: | 1887 |
| Medium: | oil on canvas, mounted on a metallic glass board |
| Size: | 30.5 x 50 in (77 x 127 cm) |
| Inscription: | l/r "F. Schafer.1887" on a rock, in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand |
| Verso: | said to be "Morning in Yosemite Valley Cal." in black brush on the canvas, in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand |
| Provenance: | By gift to The Yosemite National Park Museum (public) in 1928. |
| Reproductions: | Slide in Yosemite Park file; William K. Dick photo #101 (color, 1972) |
| Citations: | Inventory of American Paintings… record 56940578; William K. Dick notes, page 75; Park catalog #5399. |
| Site: | View East into Yosemite Valley, California, from atop the Topinemete bluffs along the old Mariposa trail, probably at Inspiration point. El Capitan is outlined on the left, Half Dome is silhouetted on the horizon, and Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Fall are on the right. |
| Description: | The painting is divided into a finished foreground triangle on the right and a broadly brushed background. In the foreground are two short trees to the left of the trail. Two riders, one in a yellow shirt, the other in a red shirt, are departing the scene, their horses turning left. There is a small snag to the left of the trail, and a large snag to the right, reaching onto a boulder. The slope to the right is bright green with grass and small bushes. The edge of the cliff above Bridalveil Fall is orange. The background consists of a very hazy sky with ill-defined clouds, a range of snow-covered peaks on the horizon, and El Capitan, Half-Dome, and Sentinel Rock having no detail at all--just gray silhouettes. The Merced River is faintly visible in the valley below. There is some minor detail on the left slope below the cliff. (From the painting, 22 July 1997.) |
| Note: | The viewpoint is identical to Morning in the Yosemite Valley [1] which may be a preliminary sketch for this painting. |
| Identification: | The Inventory of American Paintings lists this painting under the name "Schafter, F." The Inventory listing gives the size as 48 x 30, but the painting is in landscape orientation. Part of the title is visible in the photograph by William K. Dick, on the back of a tear. |
| In index(es): | Title list, Yosemite Valley--classic view, paintings currently held in museums and public collections, dated paintings |
![[photo]](../smalls/p/img0101.jpg)