Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point Trail, ca. 1873, Albert Bierstadt. Oil on canvas. Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Mrs. Vincenzo Ardenghi. All images courtesy Yale University Art Gallery
Yosemite Valley, a place of creative contemplation and soulful retreat will fill a gallery with its resplendent visuals this autumn. Taking place in the Yale University Art Gallery, the vast and endless beauty of Yosemite: Exploring the Incomparable Valley spills over the space in landscape paintings, collages, photographs, and realist sculpture. Each piece of artwork is a visual representation of Yosemite’s mythic history, beginning in the late-19th century when it evovled from wild terrain to federally-protected (but no less wild) public land.A bronze sculpture of Abraham Lincoln offers a peek into the historical background of the national park services. In 1864, the 16th US president demonstrated a significant hand in beginning the national park system with the passing of the Yosemite Grant Act. The act offered federal protection to Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove, a prosperous 550-acre sequoia plot, signifying the first classification of wilderness into protected land, and open to the public.The Creators Project spoke with Mark Mitchell, the Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale Gallery, about the motivation and interesting history of the Valley: “The show [begins] with a single painting, Albert Bierstadt’s massive Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point Trail (ca. 1873), the scale of which was intended to immerse viewers in the landscape," Mitchell says. "That’s what we want to do: offer our visitors a range of ways to appreciate Yosemite alongside artists and scientists.”The exhibition aims to transport viewers to the National Park grounds while also weaving factual information of Yosemite’s ascension from wilderness to protected terrain. Mitchell continues, “You can marvel at Bierstadt’s dramatic painting, touch a piece of El Capitan granite, see an early view from Glacier Point Trail in 3D through a stereo viewer, and contemplate the photographs that convinced Abraham Lincoln to sign the Yosemite Grant Act in 1864, in the midst of the Civil War, when he had a few other things to think about.”Yosemite: Exploring the Incomparable Valley runs from October 7 – December 31, 2016 at Yale University Art Gallery. To find more details about the show, click here.Related:Explore Stunning Day-to-Night Photos of U.S. National ParksTake a Timelapse Tour of North America’s Best Vistas EverDrone Footage Captures Iceland’s Picture-Perfect Landscapes
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