| Medium: | oil on canvas |
| Size: | 22 x 36 in (61 x 91 cm) |
| Inscription: | said to be no inscription |
| Verso: | l/r "Yosemite Valley" (large letters) "California" (smaller letters) in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand |
| Provenance: | With Garzoli Gallery, San Francisco, 1972. |
| Reproductions: | William K. Dick photo #93 (color, 1972) |
| Attribution: | Since the painting is unsigned, attribution is problematic. According to William K. Dick, John Garzoli has suggested attributing this painting to Schafer. The composition, palette, and brushwork are quite similer to those in other works by Schafer. The smaller oil sketch Yosemite Valley, California [17] has many close similarities, including the shape of El Capitan, the rounded appearance of the peaks to the right, and the positions and shapes of the trees; this painting appears to have been based on that oil sketch. The sketch, while also unsigned, has a similar verso inscription that also appears to be in Schafer's characteristic block-letter hand. However, of the many Schafer Yosemite paintings, these are the only two that share this particular profile of El Capitan and the rounded peaks on the Cathedral Rocks. |
| Site: | A view looking East up Yosemite Valley, with Bridalveil Fall on the right and El Capitan on the left, from a point high up on the North side of the Valley. |
| Description: | Bridalveil Fall descends in a cloud of foam below a very detailed set of Cathedral Rocks. Isolated stands of conifers dot the middle distance; there are several grey boulders in the right foreground. On the valley floor below the Merced river can be seen winding among the trees. Sentinel rock stands clearly in the middle of the valley; half dome is a profile beyond, and a white-capped mountain peak stands in the center distance. (From a color photograph.) |
| Identification: | Title from verso inscription. The verso inscription was not reported in 1972, but it is found on a 2008 photograph made in connection with a report of damage to the painting. |
| In index(es): | Title list, Yosemite Valley--classic view, paintings probably attributable to Schafer |
![[photo]](../smalls/p/img0093.jpg)