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Thomas Hill

Paintings in Inventory

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Artist's Biography

Thomas Hill was California's leading resident landscape painter during the 1870s, rivaled only by William Keith.  In 1876, Hill's large painting of Yosemite was one of only twelve American works of art (out of 400) to be given an award by an international jury at the Philadelphia Centennial.  During this period of his career, he was an artist of national importance, and his works were sought after by collectors in New York and Boston, as well as San Francisco.

Some of Hill's finest works were fresh oil on paper studies, painted en plein air.  Albert Bierstadt's visit to San Francisco in 1872 probably introduced Hill to the charms of this medium, which Bierstadt frequently employed during his excursions to the wilderness.  Hill's painterly style, in which broad dashes of paint suggest the presence of earth, rocks and foliage, gives a strength and simplicity to this transcription of Yosemite scenery.  This painting depicts Chilnualna Falls about a mile from Hill's studio at Wawona at the southwest corner of Yosemite National Park.  A slightly different version of this work was engraved for John Muir's chapter "Yosemite Valley" in Picturesque California published circa 1889.