El Capitan, Yosemite (Sentinel Rock)

On a trip west in 1874 – 75, German-born Herzog created mountain sketches in Yosemite and Sierra Nevada. The artist continued to travel to the American west seeking new subjects for his paintings until 1905. This large painting depicts one of his most impressive views of the west and is considered to be the artist’s masterpiece. It was exhibited in the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia where it was awarded a prize. Albert Bierstadt, another famous German-American artist, had popularized scenic Yosemite views in the 1860s, following the 1848 California Gold Rush, when curiosity about the natural beauty of the region became widespread in the United States.