Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00013000The Domes, from the Sentinel Domes, Yosemite
About the Artwork
Although prolific in all types of commercial photography, Carleton Watkins was best known for his majestic images of Yosemite Valley. He first transported his mammoth-plate camera there in 1861 and returned many times to record America's natural treasure. Besides establishing aesthetic and technical standards of excellence for landscape photography, Watkins's work was instrumental in passing the 1864 Congressional bill enacted to protect Yosemite from development. In this panoramic view, he displayed elegantly curved rock formations in the foreground. The photograph was structured in overlapping planes, which effectively depicted the seemingly limitless gradations and undulations in the landscape. His skillful suggestion of atmospheric perspective made the mountains and trees appear less clearly visible in the background, enhancing the sense of a vast, pristine landscape.
Inscriptions
written in brown ink on recto: "No. 94"; "C.E. Watkins"; Sentinel Dome-Yosemite-No 94 3 (in red crayon)" in pencil at top of mount: "64-" Bottom of mount: "CEW. 182 .X The Domes. From the Sentinel Dome- Yosemite- No 94 3 (3 written in red conte crayon)
Exhibition history
Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro Collection of American Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 26-September 10, 2003). Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-September 16, 2007).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Carleton E. Watkins (American, 1829–1916)
- Date
- c. 1865–1866
- Medium
- mammoth albumen print from wet collodion negative
- Dimensions
- Image: 39.6 x 52.4 cm (15 9/16 x 20 5/8 in.); Mounted: 53.2 x 68.1 cm (20 15/16 x 26 13/16 in.); Matted: 71.1 x 81.3 cm (28 x 32 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 2002.44
More by Carleton E. Watkins in museum collections
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000339
Public collection via the Metropolitan Museum of Art
AT-00000526
Section of the Grizzly Giant with Galen Clark, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite
Carleton E. Watkins1865–66 · Photograph
Public collection via the Metropolitan Museum of Art
AT-00000527
Public collection via the Metropolitan Museum of Art
AT-00000555
Open-access museum record · AT-00013000
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