PBA Galleries

Oil on canvas, framed. Signed T. Hill in lower right. 49x32 cm. (19¼x12½").

Thomas Hill (1829-1908), English-born American painter, was noted for his paintings of California scenes, and in particular of Yosemite. He is, without question, Mr. Yosemite of art. Hill produced an enormous body of high quality Yosemite artwork. Further, he was a Yosemite pioneer residential artist, maintaining a studio that still stands at Wawona. The majority of art that Hill produced was done for tourists who had only a limited amounts of time in Yosemite. A tourist might request a view of a Yosemite waterfall, advising Hill in the process that he was leaving the area only a few days hence. Hill would have to whip out a picture in time to permit the oil paints to dry a bit and a frame to be built for travel. Hill's great-granddaughter, Wawona Washburn Hartwig, often spoke of the speed with which Hill might produce paintings for eager tourists. When given sufficient time, however, Thomas Hill was quite capable of producing breathtaking masterworks. His Great Canyon of the Sierra, Yosemite is a 72x120” painting that hangs at the Crocker Art Museum and is considered by many to be the equal of any American landscape painting. In his simpler works, however, Hill was really a landscape impressionist. In the latter 19th century, works by the great French impressionists were exhibited in America, and Hill, seeing them, scoffed. But he himself was decidedly impressionistic in style in his lesser commercial works. The painting currently offered is a Thomas Hill signed oil on canvas of the Merced River in Yosemite. It is one of his smaller views, measuring 19¼x12½". Provenance: Eldon Grupp.