ALBERT BIERSTADT (1830 - 1902)
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Born in Solingen, Germany, on January 7, 1830, artist Albert Bierstadt would move to America as an infant and come to be known for his epic depictions of the vast, sweeping landscapes of America’s frontier and beyond. He would create more than 500 paintings in his lifetime, many of which hang today in museums throughout the United States.
Bierstadt was raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, but returned to Germany in 1853 in order to study painting in Dusseldorf with an informal art school, where he spent much time perfecting his skill with the majestic Alpines as his subject. In 1857 he returned home to New Bedford and taught drawing and painting briefly, but soon devoted himself entirely to his own art, encouraged by the Boston Athenaeum purchasing one of his works, titled “The Portico of Octavia Rome”. In 1858 he presented at the National Academy of Design a rather large Swiss landscape which won praise and an honorary membership at the Academy. The following year he joined Mr. Frederick W. Lander, a U.S. land surveyor, on a journey west to witness the impressive landscapes he’d heard of. Sketches from this journey were transformed into large paintings back home at the Tenth Street Studio Building in New York. He also created landscapes of New England and upstate New York, and is included in the group known as the Hudson River School. Like the other members of this group, Bierstadt’s landscapes were remarkable not just for their size but a certain romantic play with the portrayal of light, sometimes referred to as luminism. His work also grouped him (alongside Thomas Moran) in the Rocky Mountain School as well.
Bierstadt would travel west again in 1863 with Fitz Hugh Ludlow, a successful author of the time, and years later Bierstadt would actually marry Ludlow’s wife, Rosalie, in 1867. The same year as his wedding, he would travel to London to sketch and to exhibit two chosen landscapes for none other than Queen Victoria. For the next two years he would travel throughout Europe, which reinforced his fame overseas. Arguably his most important travels, though, would be to Yellowstone in 1871. It is believed that his romantic, if only slightly grandiose depictions of the unique landscapes there played a key role in convincing congress to establish the area as the world’s first national park. His work in passing the Yellowstone Park Bill led to many requests to capture other landscapes that needed preservation or promotion. He was commissioned to visit the Grand Canyon by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.
Winning many awards and honors and selling works at record prices for his time, Bierstadt was well appreciated and rewarded for his skill during his lifetime, though it did not last until the end. In a streak of bad fortune, his wife contracted tuberculosis, so they relocated officially to Nassau in the Bahamas. Though he continued working and traveling, his spectacular landscapes did not maintain their popularity, but fell out of favor with the art scene as it shifted away from overstatement. Then, sadly, much of his work was lost to a fire at his home studio in New York. It is said that, despite his fame and success, when Bierstadt passed away in 1902 it was without much money or recognition. It wouldn’t be until the 1960’s that his name again would find its way centerstage, and his prolific life’s work would again be returned to its proper place in the annals of art history.
Known Works:
1855 - The Old Mill
1855 - The Portico of Octavia (Purchased by the Boston Athenaeum)
1855 - Westphalia
1858 - Lake Lucerne (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
1859 - The Wolf River, Kansas (Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI)
1861 - Echo Lake, Franconia Mountains, NH (Smith College Museum of Art, Smith College, Northampton, MA)
1862 - Guerrilla Warfare, Civil Warin
1863 - The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY)
1864 - Cho-looke, the Yosemite Fall (Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA)
1864 - Valley of the Yosemite (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA)
1866 - On the Hudson River Near Irvington (Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA)
1866 - A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie (Brooklyn Museum, New York City, New York)
1868 - Connecticut River Valley, Claremont, New Hampshire (Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA)
1868 - In the Sierras (Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA)
1868 - Among the Sierra Nevada, California (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.)
1869 - Glen Ellis Falls (Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ)
1869 - Emerald Pool
1871 - Domes of Yosemite (St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, St. Johnsbury, VT)
1874 - Giant Redwood Trees of California (Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA)
1875 - Mount Adams, Washington (Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey)
1876 - Mount Corcoran (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
1888 - The Last of the Buffalo (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
1889 - Alaskan Coast Range (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.)
1891 - The Last of the Buffalo (Valley Fine Art Gallery, Aspen, Colorado)
1895 - The Morteratsch Glacier Upper Engadine Valley - Pontresina
Honors, Memberships and Awards:
Bierstadt was raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, but returned to Germany in 1853 in order to study painting in Dusseldorf with an informal art school, where he spent much time perfecting his skill with the majestic Alpines as his subject. In 1857 he returned home to New Bedford and taught drawing and painting briefly, but soon devoted himself entirely to his own art, encouraged by the Boston Athenaeum purchasing one of his works, titled “The Portico of Octavia Rome”. In 1858 he presented at the National Academy of Design a rather large Swiss landscape which won praise and an honorary membership at the Academy. The following year he joined Mr. Frederick W. Lander, a U.S. land surveyor, on a journey west to witness the impressive landscapes he’d heard of. Sketches from this journey were transformed into large paintings back home at the Tenth Street Studio Building in New York. He also created landscapes of New England and upstate New York, and is included in the group known as the Hudson River School. Like the other members of this group, Bierstadt’s landscapes were remarkable not just for their size but a certain romantic play with the portrayal of light, sometimes referred to as luminism. His work also grouped him (alongside Thomas Moran) in the Rocky Mountain School as well.
Bierstadt would travel west again in 1863 with Fitz Hugh Ludlow, a successful author of the time, and years later Bierstadt would actually marry Ludlow’s wife, Rosalie, in 1867. The same year as his wedding, he would travel to London to sketch and to exhibit two chosen landscapes for none other than Queen Victoria. For the next two years he would travel throughout Europe, which reinforced his fame overseas. Arguably his most important travels, though, would be to Yellowstone in 1871. It is believed that his romantic, if only slightly grandiose depictions of the unique landscapes there played a key role in convincing congress to establish the area as the world’s first national park. His work in passing the Yellowstone Park Bill led to many requests to capture other landscapes that needed preservation or promotion. He was commissioned to visit the Grand Canyon by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.
Winning many awards and honors and selling works at record prices for his time, Bierstadt was well appreciated and rewarded for his skill during his lifetime, though it did not last until the end. In a streak of bad fortune, his wife contracted tuberculosis, so they relocated officially to Nassau in the Bahamas. Though he continued working and traveling, his spectacular landscapes did not maintain their popularity, but fell out of favor with the art scene as it shifted away from overstatement. Then, sadly, much of his work was lost to a fire at his home studio in New York. It is said that, despite his fame and success, when Bierstadt passed away in 1902 it was without much money or recognition. It wouldn’t be until the 1960’s that his name again would find its way centerstage, and his prolific life’s work would again be returned to its proper place in the annals of art history.
Known Works:
1855 - The Old Mill
1855 - The Portico of Octavia (Purchased by the Boston Athenaeum)
1855 - Westphalia
1858 - Lake Lucerne (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
1859 - The Wolf River, Kansas (Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI)
1861 - Echo Lake, Franconia Mountains, NH (Smith College Museum of Art, Smith College, Northampton, MA)
1862 - Guerrilla Warfare, Civil Warin
1863 - The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY)
1864 - Cho-looke, the Yosemite Fall (Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA)
1864 - Valley of the Yosemite (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA)
1866 - On the Hudson River Near Irvington (Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA)
1866 - A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie (Brooklyn Museum, New York City, New York)
1868 - Connecticut River Valley, Claremont, New Hampshire (Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA)
1868 - In the Sierras (Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA)
1868 - Among the Sierra Nevada, California (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.)
1869 - Glen Ellis Falls (Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ)
1869 - Emerald Pool
1871 - Domes of Yosemite (St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, St. Johnsbury, VT)
1874 - Giant Redwood Trees of California (Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA)
1875 - Mount Adams, Washington (Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey)
1876 - Mount Corcoran (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
1888 - The Last of the Buffalo (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
1889 - Alaskan Coast Range (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.)
1891 - The Last of the Buffalo (Valley Fine Art Gallery, Aspen, Colorado)
1895 - The Morteratsch Glacier Upper Engadine Valley - Pontresina
Honors, Memberships and Awards:
- Academician of National Academy of Design (1860 - 1902)
- Member of Hudson River School of Artists
- Member of Rocky Mountain School of Artists
- Awarded medals in Austria, Bavaria, Belgium and Germany
- Mount Bierstadt and Bierstadt Lake named in his honor (Colorado, US)
- US Postal Service issued commemorative stamps featuring Bierstadt’s “The Last Buffalo” in 1998 (part of Four Centuries of American Art set), and another in 2008 featuring his 1864 painting “Valley of the Yosemite” (part of American Treasures series)
- Member of Century Association (1862 - 1902)
- Exhibited at both the Brooklyn Art Association and the Boston Art Club
- His works currently hang in public and private collections across North America and Europe- including the Wadsworth Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.