Bierstadt, who received his training at the Düsseldorf Academy, Germany elevated native landscape painting to the top of the nation’s hierarchy as a noble artistic endeavor. He made his first tour of the American West in April 1859 accompanying an expedition led by Colonel Frederick West Lander to Wyoming’s Wind River Range. Further trips followed and in 1863 Bierstadt and Fitz Hugh Ludlow, a prominent member of New York’s literary circle, made their way along the Oregon Trail through Nebraska and on to San Francisco. Bierstadt was to return to San Francisco once again between 1871 and 1873, this time accompanied by his wife, Rosalie, and set up a studio. Their arrival was announced in the San Francisco Alta on July 21, 1871 and stated that “William A. Bierstadt, the great artist,” was staying at the Grand Hotel in San Francisco.

Bierstadt seems to have greatly enjoyed San Francisco society and certainly found inspiration in California’s landscape. The vibrant waters of the Pacific betray the Luminist traditions of the Hudson River School of which Bierstadt was a founding member. As with this work, Bierstadt often executed his paintings in the field on paper, and would then mount the paper onto canvas once he returned to his studio. This rare view of the rugged San Francisco coast depicts the area known as Black Point. This area, once a west coast Civil war fortication, is now the area of Upper Fort Mason in the Marina area of San Francisco. It was named Black Point because of the dark laurel trees that grow along the bluff. It is exquisite works such as this that laid the foundation for the American Impressionist period that followed.