[California Oak, Santa Clara Valley]
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.For viewers today, the crown of this majestic oak tree, with its complex network of branches, might evoke the allover paintings of Abstract Expressionism with their layers of dripped paint. As photographed by Carleton Watkins, the dark, flattened silhouette of the tree feathers out across the camera’s field of view. The sloped horizon line, uncommon in Watkins’s output, both echoes the ridge in the distance and grounds the energy of the tree canopy, ably demonstrating his masterful command of pictorial composition.
Artwork Details
- Title: [California Oak, Santa Clara Valley]
- Artist: Carleton E. Watkins (American, 1829–1916)
- Date: ca. 1863
- Medium: Albumen silver print
- Dimensions: Image: 12 in. × 9 5/8 in. (30.5 × 24.5 cm)
Mount: 21 1/4 in. × 17 5/8 in. (54 × 44.8 cm)
Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Frame (approx): 24 x 20 in. - Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: William L. Schaeffer Collection, Promised Gift of Jennifer and Philip Maritz, in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary
- Object Number: L.2025.29.1
- Curatorial Department: Photographs