An Appreciation:
Albert Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt was a 19th century American landscape artist. An emigrant, Bierstadt was inspired by the American wilderness, which he depicted on large momumental canvases with dramatic use of light. He was a leading member of the second generation of Hudson River School artists.

Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany on January 7, 1830. While Albert was still a toddler, the family emigrated to New Bedford, Massachusetts where his father found work as a cooper.

Albert showed an interest in drawing from an early age. Bierstadt hung out his shingle as a drawing instructor in 1850. Around this time, he also began to paint in oils.

Largely self-taught, Bierstadt returned to Germany in 1853 hoping that a distant relative would help him get formal instruction. However, the relative died before Bierstadt reached his home in Dusseldorf However, two artists working in Dusseldorf, Emanuel Leutze and Worthington Whittredge, provided instruction. Bierstadt also accompanied Whittredge on a sketching and painting sojourn through Germany, Switzerland and Italy. This was followed by a winter in Rome and then back to New Bedford in late 1857.

In the Spring of 1858, Bierstadt, now an accomplished artist, contributed a large, dramatic European landscape to the annual exhibition of the National Academy of Design. The painting was well-received by the critics and shortly thereafter, Bierstadt was elected an honorary member of the Academy.

To build upon his success, Bierstadt began painting dramatic landscapes of New England and New York. Like Thomas Cole before him, Bierstadt found inspiration in the Hudson River Valley.

America was expanding westward and in 1859, Frederic W. Lander led a U.S. Government survey team west to map the still-unspoiled western territories. Bierstadt accompanied the expedition. He returned with numerous sketches, which he used as the basis for paintings produced in his studio in the Tenth Street Studio Building in Manhattan.

In 1860, Bierstadt was elected a full member of the National Academy of Design. He also received medals from several European governments.

Bierstadt returned to the West in 1863 on an expedition that included an extdned stay in Yosemite Valley. The paintings from this expedition were again enthusiastically received and were able to command high prices. Bierstadt continued to make expeditions west throughout his career.

In 1867, Bierstadt traveled in the other direction, making a two-year tour of Europe. In London, he showed two of his paintings to Queen Victoria in a private exhibition. He also held successful exhibitions in other European cities.

Bierstadt's paintings were so popular because they conveyed the promise of the young American nation. His often monumental canvases depicted unspoiled, breathtaking scenery in dramatic light. In addition, Bierstadt put considerable thought into how the paintings should be presented and how they should be marketed to collectors and the public.

While continuing to be based in New York, Bierstadt and his wife Rosalie traveled extensively including an extended stay in California. In the mid-1870s, Rosalie was diagnosed as consumptive and advised to spend her winters in a warm climate. Accordingly, Bierstadts spent much of the winters in Nassau, The Bahamas, where he found a new source of inspiration.

Despite Bierstadt's promotional efforts, by the 1880s, large epic paintings were no longer in fashion. The dream of a promised land in the western wilderness faded as the West became settled. As a result, Bierstadt's work was largely ignored until the 1960s when interest in unspoiled wilderness was rekindled by the environmental movement.

Bierstadt died in New York City in 1902.

Click here for more artist biographies

Art reviews and articles index

Above: Bierstadt's paintings from his expedition to the Yosemite valley cemented his reputation as an international artist.
Below: "Guerilla Warfare" - a scene from the American Civil War.  Bierstadt was drafted by the Union Army but hired a substitute.  

---

Above: "The Last of the Buffalo."
​Below: "The Light in the Forest."

​Below: "The Emerald Sea."

---

Artist appreciation - Albert Bierstadt