| Date: | 1877 |
| Medium: | oil on canvas |
| Size: | 30 x 48 in (76 x 122 cm) |
| Inscription: | l/l "F. Schafer 1877" |
| Verso: | said to be "Three Brothers, Yosemite Valley, Cal." |
| Provenance: | by gift to The Yosemite National Park Museum (public) from 1928. |
| Reproductions: | slide in Yosemite Park file; William K. Dick photo #86 (color, 1972) |
| Citations: | Inventory of American Paintings… record 56940577; William K. Dick notes, page 75, Park accession #932, catalog #5395. |
| Site: | The Three Brothers is a rock formation in Yosemite Valley, California. |
| Description: | The triple rock formation fills the left side of the painting with a dark mass; a dark green grove of conifer trees stands in front, with two tall, white, dead tree trunks still standing but leaning at the left. In the distance a line of snow-capped peaks forms the horizon against a baby-blue sky, with shades of pink on the left, Half-Dome rising in the center and a pinnacle (Sentinel rock?) to the right. A stream flows through a valley at the lower right and a path along the river emerges at the center. A large tree is down at the center front. (From the painting, 10 July 1992.) |
| Note: | Paintings with this title have appeared in at least three 19th century auction catalogs but without enough information to either include or exclude the possibility that one of them is this painting. See Paintings known only by title for details. |
| Identification: | The Inventory of American Paintings lists this painting under the artist name "Schafter, F.", but examination of the painting confirms that it is by Schafer. The Inventory listing also gives the size as 48 x 30 in, examination reveals that the painting is in landscape orientation. William K. Dick's photograph of the painting at Yosemite Park confirms the orientation. |
| In index(es): | Title list, Yosemite Valley--other views, paintings currently held in museums and public collections, dated paintings |
![[photo]](../smalls/p/img0086.jpg)