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1. Portrait of Albert Bierstadt

ca. 1883, private collection

In this photograph taken by Charles Bierstadt, the artist’s brother, Albert Bierstadt appears as anestablished, respected and wealthy Victorian gentleman.

At the time this photograph was taken, Bierstadt’s art was already considered to be going “out ofstyle” by the art world. Because many of his loyal customers were both upper middle class andconservatively rich, however, he was able to maintain continued sales of his works, despite theirsteady decline in appeal among the general public.

One of the attractive features of Bierstadt’s work was the enormous size of his canvases. Theywere so large that viewers could inspect the details of the foreground and feel almost as if theywere about to step into the midst of the landscape.

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2. Surveyor’s Wagon in the Rockiesca. 1859, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 7-3/4" x 12-7/8", St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO

On his first trip out West in 1859, Bierstadt traveled with the Lander Survey expedition. Thesketches and oils that he created on this trip would probably have been small enough to fit into hisartist’s box, which may explain the small size of this work. It was very likely painted on-the-spot, enplein air, during a brief stop along the expedition’s trail.

This scene appears to be a realistic portrayal of Bierstadt’s first glimpse of the untamed West. Wecan imagine his appreciation and awe of the size and grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, rising justahead of the group, visible in the distance across the vast, rolling plains.

Bierstadt divided the painting space into foreground, middle ground and background, and he usedatmospheric perspective [where things appear lighter, hazier, and bluer the further away they are] tocreate a feeling of great depth and distance. Warm, sunny values in the foreground create contrastwith the cloud-shaded area in the middle ground as well as with the cooler shades of blue in thedistant background.

Our eye is first drawn to the foreground and the highlights and darker details of the rustic Surveycamp wagon, mules, and horse. These are clearly the focal point of this painting and portrayingsuch detailed and interesting objects in the foreground became a familiar characteristic trademark ofBierstadt’s compositions. Once he returned home, Bierstadt achieved immediate fame and successand he always included interesting details such as these in his many huge, dramatic, colorful, andemotional Romantic paintings.

Fun Fact: It was not until the late 1960s and early 1970s that several exhibits of Bierstadt’s smallsketches and oil paintings, like this one, revived a new American interest in this largely forgottenartist.

Where are the darkest values in this painting? The darkest values in the painting are used to depictthe subject of this painting: one of the Survey camp wagons, mules, and horses. The rest of theSurvey party also appear in the central distance.

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4. The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak4. The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak

1863, oil on canvas, 731863, oil on canvas, 73--1/2” x 1201/2” x 120--3/4”, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY3/4”, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

This work was one of Bierstadt’s first “great paintings,” (its size was about 6 x 10 feet) and it was composedThis work was one of Bierstadt’s first “great paintings,” (its size was about 6 x 10 feet) and it was composedfrom many sketches that Bierstadt made during his first trip out west with the 1859 Colonel Lander expedition.from many sketches that Bierstadt made during his first trip out west with the 1859 Colonel Lander expedition.During that summer, the group reached the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains, in what is nowDuring that summer, the group reached the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains, in what is nowWyoming. This scene was not actual, but was created from accurately detailed flora and fauna combined withWyoming. This scene was not actual, but was created from accurately detailed flora and fauna combined withimaginary mountains that Bierstadt created to emulate the grandeur of the European Alps. Bierstadt named theimaginary mountains that Bierstadt created to emulate the grandeur of the European Alps. Bierstadt named themountain in this painting “Lander’s Peak” in memory of Frederick Lander, his friend as well as the leader of themountain in this painting “Lander’s Peak” in memory of Frederick Lander, his friend as well as the leader of the1859 Lander Survey, who had recently died in a March,1862, Civil War battle. This painting catapulted Bierstadt1859 Lander Survey, who had recently died in a March,1862, Civil War battle. This painting catapulted Bierstadtto fame when it was exhibited at the New York Metropolitan Fair in 1864, and it was promoted with anto fame when it was exhibited at the New York Metropolitan Fair in 1864, and it was promoted with anengraving, a pamphlet, and its own traveling exhibition. Bierstadt became an instant celebrity as the visualengraving, a pamphlet, and its own traveling exhibition. Bierstadt became an instant celebrity as the visualspokesman for “Manifest Destiny” and the Westward Expansion of America. For the rest of his life, Bierstadtspokesman for “Manifest Destiny” and the Westward Expansion of America. For the rest of his life, Bierstadtcontinued to translate such Romantic visions of our vast and beautiful country onto canvas. Bierstadtcontinued to translate such Romantic visions of our vast and beautiful country onto canvas. Bierstadttraditionally layered his space by dividing it into 3 distinct areas: a detailed foreground, a band of water in thetraditionally layered his space by dividing it into 3 distinct areas: a detailed foreground, a band of water in themiddle distance, and magnificent mountains in the background that reached up into the clouds.middle distance, and magnificent mountains in the background that reached up into the clouds.

In the foreground of this painting we see the details of tribal life in a Shoshone [show SHOW nee] encampmentIn the foreground of this painting we see the details of tribal life in a Shoshone [show SHOW nee] encampmentand note how the lighter, sunlit values contrast against shaded darker values to add both drama and emphasisand note how the lighter, sunlit values contrast against shaded darker values to add both drama and emphasisto this area of the painting. The viewer’s eye is next drawn to highlighted values in the middle ground with itsto this area of the painting. The viewer’s eye is next drawn to highlighted values in the middle ground with itsbrightly lit waterfall and pool with a white band of reflected light. The waterfall and distant Lander’s Peak directlybrightly lit waterfall and pool with a white band of reflected light. The waterfall and distant Lander’s Peak directlyabove together create an effective visual central axis for the composition that symmetrically balances equallyabove together create an effective visual central axis for the composition that symmetrically balances equally--weighted dark masses of land on either side. The background contains huge, hazy mountains that create bothweighted dark masses of land on either side. The background contains huge, hazy mountains that create bothdepth and distance through atmospheric perspective [where things appear lighter, hazier, and bluer the furtherdepth and distance through atmospheric perspective [where things appear lighter, hazier, and bluer the furtheraway they are]. Bierstadt also achieved a sense of deeper space through subtle value changes in theaway they are]. Bierstadt also achieved a sense of deeper space through subtle value changes in thebackground. Note how the haziest, highest and most distant mountains literally blend with, and fade into, thebackground. Note how the haziest, highest and most distant mountains literally blend with, and fade into, theclouds, thus creating a sense of great majesty and of infinite space.clouds, thus creating a sense of great majesty and of infinite space.

Fun Fact: In 1865, this painting sold for the thenFun Fact: In 1865, this painting sold for the then--astounding sum of $40,000astounding sum of $40,000——a remarkable amount back then!a remarkable amount back then!By comparison, the annual income of a typical skilled laborer in 1863 was around $750.By comparison, the annual income of a typical skilled laborer in 1863 was around $750.

Where does your eye go first when you look at this painting? Your eye first goes to the light values in theWhere does your eye go first when you look at this painting? Your eye first goes to the light values in theforeground before traveling to similar light values in the middle ground of the waterfall area.foreground before traveling to similar light values in the middle ground of the waterfall area.

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5. A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie

1866, oil on canvas, 83” x 142”, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY

This is a very large painting—about 7 x 12 feet! The composition is based on sketches and photographstaken during Bierstadt’s second trip to the West in 1863 with his friend, writer Fitz Hugh Ludlow. The sceneshown here is the Rocky Mountains (a favorite subject), and even though this particular place did notactually exist, Bierstadt created a successful and romantic interpretation of the wild, untamed land that hevisited in 1863. He decided to name the highest peak in this painting “Mt. Rosalie,” in honor of RosalieLudlow , who was married to Fitz Ludlow at the time of Bierstadt’s second trip. The Ludlow marriage was adifficult one, however, and Rosalie eventually divorced Ludlow before finally deciding to marry Bierstadt inlate1866, some ten months after this painting was actually completed.

Contrasts of bright sunlight and deep shadows, created by the approaching storm mentioned in the title,work to draw the viewer into the composition. Mt. Rosalie emerges from the darkened storm clouds as abright sunlit peak. Like many Bierstadt compositions, the foreground space contains detailed foliage androck formations along with uniformly highlighted areas. Both the middle ground and the background containa reflective body of water, while the snowcapped mountain peak towers over all in the distant background.Bierstadt also added an intermediate land mass in the foreground with a darker cluster of trees thatcontrasts against the bright white values of the reflected water. All of these elements, including the visuallyweighty dark mountains on the right and the dark “V” of the shadows in the middle background, togethercreate a balanced, yet asymmetrical, composition.

Bierstadt managed to add some unusual elements to his trademark compositional style in this painting.Instead of just one central sunlit focus, he decided to develop two areas of light values: (1) there is therocky ledge in the center and (2) there is the sunlit Mt. Rosalie that glows among the clouds in thebackground. These dramatic lighting contrasts create an alternating light and dark pattern across thecanvas which helps to generate a sense of awe at the magnificent power of nature in this vast wilderness.Bierstadt created a truly Romantic painting, one that is filled with dramatic lighting, exotic subject matter,and an appeal to human emotions.

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6. Yosemite Valley

Undated, oil on canvas, 35-1/2” x 58”, Haggin Collection, Stockton, CA

This symmetrically balanced composition is another example of Bierstadt’s signature style ofexaggerating the scale and size of the mountains that he created in his paintings. Isolated figuresand detailed foliage and rocks are scattered across the foreground. Sunlit water reflects the bandof darker-valued trees against the low horizon in the middle ground. Strong linear perspectivedraws the viewer into the hazy central background, which is framed between two equally massivemountain formations. Water and sky are depicted with the lightest values, while foreground grassand middle ground trees are of darker values. All of these elements are visible because of strongvalue contrasts, while the lesser value contrast of the far distance achieves a sense of depth andspace via atmospheric perspective [where things appear lighter, hazier, and bluer the further awaythey are]. Note the very tall waterfall on the right; viewers must surely have felt the majesty of theYosemite Valley upon seeing its height depicted so skillfully and dramatically by Bierstadt.

Fun Fact: While Bierstadt sketched, painted, and traveled out West, the Civil War raged backEast. After visiting Yosemite in 1863, Bierstadt was drafted by the U. S. Army to fight in whatbecame known as the Civil War. By paying a special $300 fee, however, he managed to avoid anyactual military service.

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9. Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains

1868, oil on canvas, 72” x 120”, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.

This painting, completed in Europe while Bierstadt was on a two-year trip, is considered one of themost important works of his career. It is not based on any specific site but is rather a constructedscene with an almost generic title. It is, in fact, a composite of earlier paintings: the animals hadappeared in earlier paintings; the cliff on the left is a reconfiguration of El Capitan in the YosemiteValley; the mountain peak on the right reminds one of Lander’s Peak or Mt. Rosalie [bothimaginary mountains named by Bierstadt]. This is a “perfect scene” of a wilderness paradise—itwould not exist in reality.

Bierstadt approached the foreground from an angle, and he included minute details in thegrasses, rocks, and animals shown in the foreground. The highlighted values of the reflectivewater visually draw the viewer to the middle ground in the center of the canvas, where a waterfallemerges from the low cliff to create a pool of reflected white water. Bierstadt balanced mountainsand another gigantic waterfall on the left side of the composition with a group of equally tall,darker-valued trees on the right. He also exaggerated and emphasized many natural forms withhighlights created by a sunlit light source hiding behind the clouds. High-value contrasts alsoemphasize important details in the lower part of the composition’s foreground while the lightestvalues create atmospheric perspective [where things appear lighter, hazier, and bluer the furtheraway they are] in the distant waterfalls and mountains that reach to the top of the sky in the hazybackground.

Trees, isolated figures, reflective water, dramatic lighting, high contrast of light and dark, andidealized scenery were all trademarks of Bierstadt’s Romantic style of painting at the peak of hiscareer, fame, and popularity during the 1860s.

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10. The Oregon Trail

1869, oil on canvas, 31” x 49”, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

During his second trip out west in 1863, Bierstadt happened to see a wagon train of Germanimmigrants who were bound for Oregon. The Oregon Trail had once been the major route to theNorthwest, especially back in the 1840s. The Trail continued to be used long afterwards formoving people, herds of cattle, and sheep but, by the time of this painting, some Northwestpassengers began to ride on the new Transcontinental Railroad system that was finally operatingin 1869. This faster, more comfortable mode of transportation would eventually make traveling bywagon train obsolete.

Bierstadt depicted this wagon train scene with a Romantic sense of nostalgia that idealized thepast. He portrayed the group’s travel as a steady progression toward the dazzling light of ManifestDestiny with their ultimate goal of reaching America’s “Promised Land” and the glory that waitedfor them in the West.

Both the shaded area on the left and lighter-valued foreground on the right show interestingdetails of men, cattle, horses, and wagons. The diagonal line of traveling settlers uses linearperspective to lead the viewer into the scene, past a distant Indian village, and toward the warmsunset and atmospheric perspective of the hazy, distant background. The reflective water in themiddle ground is a river, a resource symbolically nourishing to not only the native Indians but alsofor the traveling settlers and their livestock.

This is an asymmetrical composition; the larger dark mass of trees on the left is balanced by themore distant mountains on the right. The light source is hidden behind clouds which helps tocreate a warm and dramatic scene by casting highlights on a variety of small details whilesilhouetting the darker values of the trees and animals.

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11. Mt. Hood

1869, oil on canvas, 36” x 60”, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

Bierstadt painted this view of Mt. Hood in his New York studio years after his second trip West in1863. He created the illusion of depth by layering his space into a definite foreground, middleground, and background. Once again, Bierstadt improved on reality. This view is from theWashington side of the Columbia River, looking south towards Multnomah Falls. However, theside of Mt. Hood portrayed in this painting is not visible from the Washington viewpoint but showsthe western face of Mr. Hood that is seen from Portland, Oregon. By combining these twoviewpoints, however, Bierstadt not only took artistic license in his composition, but he alsoimproved on nature.

Dark values prevail in the foreground and many interesting details are highlighted with lightestvalues from a light source hidden off to the right. Deep blue reflective water and brown hillsestablish the middle ground, and an oversized Mt. Hood dominates the background. The mountainconsumes almost half of the sky with light hazy values that create great depth of space throughatmospheric perspective [where things appear lighter, hazier, and bluer the further away they are].

Were it not for the use of high contrast for the white water against the darker hills, the waterfallwould barely stand out and the details of the foreground would appear less distinct. But in thispainting, Bierstadt creatively manipulated the scene for the greatest dramatic effect by specificallyhighlighting and emphasizing these important details.

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12. Multnomah Falls

Date unknown, oil on canvas, 44” x 30”, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK

This painting was likely executed after Bierstadt’s second trip out west in 1863, when he traveledup the Columbia River and made sketches that he later used in his New York studio.

This dramatic depiction of our familiar Multnomah Falls is a remarkable combination of realismand imagination. Note that the canvas is oriented vertically to exaggerate the height and overallsize of the waterfall. Bierstadt created this fantastic scene by carefully manipulating the space: hemade the foreground quite shallow, to bring the viewer into direct contact with a fallen tree, rocksand the reflective waters of the stream. Details are noticeable through value contrasts that depictthe lightest sunlit values against darker values. The viewer follows the highlighted stream to thefocal area with greatest contrast—the lowest part of the Falls in the center of the canvas. Tall,vertical lines of trees frame the Falls and symmetrically balance the painting. Our eye then followsthe strong vertical of the Falls up into the misty sky. In other paintings, Bierstadt depictedmountains that reached to the top of the canvas; here, he gave the waterfall that same verticalemphasis.

Although Multnomah Falls is the fourth highest waterfall in the country, the Falls’ actual size wasboth heightened and exaggerated in this painting. However, Bierstadt still maintained a great dealof realism by depicting how the water of the upper Falls actually does spray out where it hits arock formation about 2/3 of the way down on the right.

To create a sense of height, Bierstadt used a high horizon [where the land meets the sky] that islocated virtually at the top of the canvas. Hazy details in the top half of the painting serve to adddepth through atmospheric perspective [where things appear lighter, hazier, and bluer the furtheraway they are] and by diffusing the background cliff in clouds of mist. This manipulation of spacecreates a romantic mood while exaggerating the size of the Falls with the best dramatic effect.

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14. Lower Yellowstone Falls

1881, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 19-1/4” x 13-1/2”,

The University of Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA

Despite many trips out west, Bierstadt did not visit the Yellowstone area until the 1880s. Once there,he was most attracted to elements of water, such as Yellowstone’s geysers and waterfalls. Here heportrayed the Lower Yellowstone Falls that pour into an immense valley, By raising the horizon linenearly to the top of the painting, Bierstadt added to the sense of the great height of the falling water.He also used this same high horizon technique for the painting, “Multnomah Falls” (Image #13. Thelarge, mature trees placed in the foreground help provide the viewer a sense of relative scale whichfurther emphasizes the immense size of the Lower Yellowstone Falls.

By the 1880s, Bierstadt’s popularity was clearly fading. When compared with other emerging artmovements, his paintings were considered to be too large, too Romantic, and simply too old-fashioned. In an effort to promote his works, however, Bierstadt reduced the size of this paintingand, except for a few minor adjustments, he created an accurate depiction of the actual scene.

Have the students look for trademark Bierstadt elements, such as:

1. a central focus (the waterfall)

2. symmetrically balanced landforms on either side

3. emphasis and drama created by value contrasts {alternating highlights and shadows)

4. a hidden light source

5. tortured trees

6. a detailed foreground

7. reflective water and

8. exotic subject matter.

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15. The Last of the Buffalo

1888, oil on canvas, 71-1/4” x 119-1/4”, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

For his last large, panoramic painting of the West, Bierstadt returned to the subject of the Americanbuffalo in what he considered to be one of his best paintings. Unfortunately, this painting was soonrejected by the Paris Exposition in 1889, primarily because of its large size and because of itsromanticized subject. The Paris judges felt Bierstadt’s work no longer reflected the state of America’sbest art. Bierstadt’s artistic reputation had declined, despite the fact that many of his wealthy and loyalpatrons still wanted his large-scale paintings to fill the large spaces in their grand homes.

Although it was rejected in Paris, when back in the United States, this painting became significant, notbecause of popularity, but because its subject addressed the imminent extinction of the buffalo. Thispainting prompted Congress to take a census of the buffalo that still remained on the plains. The officialcount came back as an alarming 541 living creatures, down from about 20 million that were estimatedto have roamed the plains just 40 years earlier. This Congressional census brought about immediateofficial government protection of the species that fortunately saved the buffalo from extinction.

Ironically, the reason for the buffalo’s near demise had little to do with the native Indians. Instead, it wasthe “white man” who traveled through the plains, using their rifles to kill entire herds of buffalo, just forsport. Initially, the U.S. Government promised the Indians their hunting lands for all time, but officialsinstead herded the tribes onto bleak reservation lands, taking away their very livelihood that dependedon the buffalo. This scene is Bierstadt’s romanticized vision of the decline of America’s West whichjeopardized the lives of the buffalo and Indians who had once roamed free across America’s plains.

Bierstadt’s style of layering space is evident: in the foreground are details, such as buffalo skeletons,plant life, and even wagon wheel ruts, all depicted in sunlit highlighted values in contrast with severalhuge, dark buffalo carcasses; in the middle ground, the reflective water of the river leads us into thedistance through linear perspective; the hazy low value contrast used to depict the mountains in thedistant background adds vastness, depth, and a romanticized atmosphere to the scene.

The strongest contrasts of light and dark values draw our attention to the most important focal point ofthis work: the Indian on his white horse next to the charging buffalo. With this group Bierstadt depictedthe very best of what had once been American’s West. He created a nostalgic landscape to celebratethe best of the primordial West and to immortalize a most exciting, bygone era.