by Albert Bierstadt ("Beer-sh-taught"), 1872

Do you think this is a picture of a real place?

Does it look realistic or exaggerated?

Do you think the artist painted this picture outside "on-the-spot" or indoors? Why?

This is a picture of a real place -- the Yosemite Valley -- but the artist probably exaggerated the weather to make the scene more dramatic. How often have you seen thick fog, dangerous-looking clouds, warm sunshine, and icy snow -- all at the same moment?

To return to the winter scene, click anywhere on the painting.

The summer scene of Yosemite Valley was painted 41 years after Bierstadt's painting by the artist Emma Michalitschke. Her painting is titled Yosemite Landscape.

How is the mood different in the summer scene? Tell us what you think.

This painting by the artist Albert Bierstadt is a landscape. Today it is common to find people painting landscapes outside at parks or beaches. But back then, over 100 years ago, most artists made small sketches outside and later painted the final picture indoors. That is what Bierstadt did. Can you imagine trying to paint something this large outside, especially in the freezing cold and snow?

This landscape of the Yosemite Valley was painted in the 1800s, a time when many people from the East Coast were moving west to California.

Can you think of one of the things that attracted people from the East Coast to California?

Two of the reasons people moved to California are represented in Bierstadt's painting: timber (wood) and lots of open space. Another reason people came is probably at the bottom of the stream: gold!

[image of covered wagon with pioneers] One of the ways people on the East Coast got their ideas about the West was through paintings like Yosemite Winter Scene. Bierstadt's painting, and illustrations like the one on the right, were often reproduced in newspapers and national magazines.

These pictures helped convince Americans how important it was to protect untouched wilderness areas like Yosemite. In 1872, the same year that Bierstadt painted this picture, the National Park System was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant. That year, Yellowstone became the nation's first National Park, and 18 years later, Yosemite also became a National Park. Visit the Yosemite National Park home page.