Title:
Yosemite River
Creator/Contributor:
Sugimoto, Henry
Date:
ca. 1935
Identifier:
92.97.135
Format:
painting
oil on canvas
California
Inscription:
Written on back, top center: Yosemite River, 39" x 39"
Description:
Stretched and framed. River scene painted in Yosemite. Rocks and water dominate the foreground as the water flows from upper
left to right past rocky banks and gushes around medium and large rocks midstream, against a background of trees or forest.
Two figures are seated on the rocks at river's edge, top center. The woman in red bathing suit and straw hat has feet in river;
the other figure in blue pants sits with legs stretched out on a rock.
Historical Note:
The strong integration of figures into the natural landscape is notable in this work. The quiet motion of the two figures
on the rocks hints at Sugimoto's later rendition of the human figure in scenes of camp and farm life especially. Sugimoto
seems to have been exploring depth and movement during this period, and the layered effect of this piece anticipates such
early period landscapes as 92.97.52 ("Distant View of Old Mission in Carmel"), which also employs strong horizontals for depth.
This piece is part of a series of views of Yosemite, but this canvas is the most open compositionally, with more controlled
brushwork, and deviates from the other Yosemite paintings in its inclusion of the two figures. "Yosemite River" bears some
relation to 92.97.53 ("Two Nuns and Church"); in both cases, the figures are dwarfed by the scene around them. This differs
from many of the camp works, in which figures feature as prominent or dominant elements in the composition. The Yosemite !
paintings and the early landscapes reflect Sugimoto's interest in scenes of nature in which the landscape dominates. Architectural
structures, which predominate in some of these early works from Europe and California, are absent in "Yosemite River."
Subject:
Yosemite, Calif.
Rocks
Rivers
Trees
Women
Men
Landscapes (representations)