Original 1875 Thomas Hill Print - Yo-Semite Valley

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Exceptional Antiquities, Ethnographic, Fine A...

By Artemis Gallery

Nov 16, 2023

Set Reminder 2023-11-16 10:00:00 2023-11-16 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Ethnographic, Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-ethnographic-fine-art-14161
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• Lot Description
  Thomas Hill (American, born in England, 1829-1908). "Yo-Semite Valley " original antique chromolithograph published by Prang & Co. Boston, MA, ca. 1875. An original, antique chromolithograph of Thomas Hill's "View of Yosemite Valley" (1865) mounted in a stunning frame that demonstrates the utmost artistry and is comprised of museum-quality materials. Hill was known for his fine paintings of the California landscape, most notably Yosemite Valley. He established a studio in Wawona, just outside of Yosemite, and became known as "Yosemite's Painter". Born in England, he moved to the US at the age of 15 in 1829 and soon became associated with the Hudson River School prior to moving West in 1861. In this composition, Hill captured the sublimity of the American West, the Romanticism of Manifest Destiny, as well as the peaceful coexistence of human beings and nature. There are so many wonderful vignettes in this piece. For example, notice the tiny staffage figures on horseback at the lower right spotlit by dramatic rays of sunlight beneath a majestic waterfall. Hill does the magnificence of Yosemite justice, simultaneously capturing its pastoral as well as its rugged qualities with both remarkably realistic details as well as an eye for idealism that reflects the zeitgeist for Romanticism during this period. Size (sight view): 15.25" L x 25.5" W (38.7 cm x 64.8 cm) Size (frame): 30.875" L x 41.125" W (78.4 cm x 104.5 cm)
  
  About the Artist: "Born in Birmingham, England, in 1829, Thomas Hill moved to the United States at the age of 15 and enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts nine years later. He later visited the White Mountains of New Hampshire and became acquainted with the landscape painters of the Hudson River School. In 1858, he had his first exhibition of thirty oil paintings in Boston. In 1861, Hill and his family moved to California, where he set up a studio in San Francisco. He made his first documented trip to Yosemite in 1865, with travel companions painter Virgil Williams and photographer Carleton Watkins.
  
  At thirty-six, Hill returned to San Francisco and painted California scenes, including several Yosemite views. He was successful, and sold both landscapes and portraits during the boom times following the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad and the discovery of silver in Nevada. But Hill, restless and ambitious, soon felt he needed more training if he was to grow as an artist and, leaving his family behind, traveled to Europe in 1866. The ten months Hill spent in Europe were undoubtedly important to the developing artist. He studied with Paul Meyerheim in Paris, who encouraged him to focus on landscape painting. Hill was exposed to the Barbizon School, which placed emphasis on naturalistic landscape painting as opposed to artificially romanticized exaggeration. While in France, he continued to work on paintings of California, including Yosemite.
  
  Returning to the United States in 1867, Hill opened a studio in Boston, where he spent the next several years painting, exhibiting, and raising a family.
  
  In 1872, Thomas Hill moved back to San Francisco with his wife Charlotte Hawkes and their nine children. Here, amid the beauty and grandeur of the California landscape, he thrived and became an important part of the growing California art scene. During the late 1870s, Hill became increasingly popular as a landscape painter, particularly of Yosemite subjects. After a sketching tour in the spring of 1879, he returned with over 30 oil sketches, quickly turning several into larger paintings.
  
  Hill’s Studio in Wawona, near the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, was finished by January 1884. In the 1880s, he separated from his wife, and spent less time in San Francisco and Oakland.
  
  Increasingly, he found happiness and success in Yosemite. By 1886, Hill settled at Wawona spending summers there and winters in nearby Raymond, CA. Hill’s work at Wawona was prolific and modestly profitable—in three years he sold 163 paintings. He seemed to enjoy the relaxed lifestyle and easy popularity as Wawona’s resident artist. As with many artists, his fortunes fluctuated with the erratic art market. After 1880, Hill’s popularity declined and it became increasingly difficult for him to sell paintings. Despite suffering a stroke in 1896, he continued to paint, but his sales slowed and his travels were limited. As late as 1906, it was reported that he was 'still at work and his easel is set up at a very early hour each morning.' Thomas Hill died on June 30, 1908, in Raymond, California." (National Park Service - Yosemite National Park California website)
  
  Provenance: private Colorado Collection; Private Collection of a Private Colorado Family
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #176976

  Condition

  Artwork is mounted in beautiful museum-quality mattes, molding, and frame behind glass. Artwork has not been examined outside the frame but appears to be in excellent condition save normal age wear. Imagery and hues are vivid and strong. Openings on verso of framing reveal stamp for Prang & Co. as well as old Prang & Co. label on stretcher. Frame has a few minute scuffs that are difficult to discern, otherwise excellent. Fit with suspension wire and ready to display.
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