Section of the Grizzly Giant with Galen Clark, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite
Watkins made his name with views of the extraordinarily beautiful Yosemite Valley, which he photographed repeatedly over a twenty-year period, beginning in 1861. By that time, he was a virtuoso practitioner of the difficult wet-collodion process using "mammoth" glass plates, which rendered the vastness of the landscape and its infinite details with unsurpassed scope and clarity.
Watkins, whose livelihood was dependent on sales of his California views to tourists, no doubt made this image with a mind to impressing Easterners and propagating the notion that the West was America's own amazing Garden of Eden. To illustrate its awesome scale, Watkins posed the explorer Galen Clark at the base of this massive three-hundred-year old tree known as the Grizzly Giant. Along with the Yosemite Valley, the Big Trees in the Mariposa Grove were on every early tourist's route through the region.
Following his bankruptcy in 1876, Watkins lost his gallery and negatives to his competitor Isaiah West Taber. Without crediting him, Taber continued printing the most famous of Watkins's early Yosemite images, including this one.
Watkins, whose livelihood was dependent on sales of his California views to tourists, no doubt made this image with a mind to impressing Easterners and propagating the notion that the West was America's own amazing Garden of Eden. To illustrate its awesome scale, Watkins posed the explorer Galen Clark at the base of this massive three-hundred-year old tree known as the Grizzly Giant. Along with the Yosemite Valley, the Big Trees in the Mariposa Grove were on every early tourist's route through the region.
Following his bankruptcy in 1876, Watkins lost his gallery and negatives to his competitor Isaiah West Taber. Without crediting him, Taber continued printing the most famous of Watkins's early Yosemite images, including this one.
Artwork Details
- Title: Section of the Grizzly Giant with Galen Clark, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite
- Artist: Carleton E. Watkins (American, 1829–1916)
- Printer: Isaiah West Taber (American, 1830–1912)
- Date: 1865–66, printed ca. 1876
- Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
- Dimensions: 52.2 x 40.6 cm. (20 9/16 x 16 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1972
- Object Number: 1972.643.3
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Carleton E. Watkins
1865–66
Carleton E. Watkins
1865–66, printed ca. 1875
Carleton E. Watkins
1868–69, printed ca. 1876
Carleton E. Watkins
1867, printed ca. 1876
Carleton E. Watkins
1875, printed ca. 1876
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.