Mount Tallac from Lake Tahoe
Thomas Hill (1880)
How do you think the world sees California?
Hill settled in San Francisco in 1861; he made his first trip to Yosemite Valley in 1865 with painter Virgil Williams and photographer Carleton Watkins. Throughout his career he explored California’s natural scenery, making oil sketches that he later developed into finished paintings. Those works played an important role in shaping public perceptions of California in an era when the state remained otherwise inaccessible to most Americans.
\ Artist
Thomas Hill
American
Born:
1826
Died:
1908
Death place:
Raymond, California
British-born Thomas Hill immigrated to Massachusetts with his family when he was young. He later found himself drawn west, eventually settling in San Francisco, where he made the grandeur of California the subject of many paintings. Even while traveling on the East Coast and in Europe, he continued to paint California scenes. He made annual sketching trips to Yosemite, Mount Shasta, and the White Mountains, and he kept a studio at Yosemite’s Wawona Hotel (now Big Trees Lodge) in his final years.
\ About
Medium
Oil on canvas
Credit
Bequest of M. H. de Young