Early America's Greatest Landscape Painter; Albert Bierstadt
by Sharon Jeffus, Visual Manna
There were two artists of note that pictured the pristine American wilderness. One was Charles Wimar and the other was Albert Bierstadt. Albert Bierstadt was an excellent example of the school of romantic realism. His pictures are so popular even today that most galleries carry them. He was German by birth. Born in humble circumstances in Solingen, Germany, he emigrated at age two to America with his parents and his two brothers. The family settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where his father became a barrelmaker. In 1857 he attached himself to an exhibition to improve the wagon trail from Fort Laramie to the Pacific Ocean. This made his career blossom. He traveled to the territories of Colorado and Wyoming sketching wonderful landscapes. The purpose of Bierstadt's trip was to procure sketches for a series of large-scale landscape paintings of the American West. As he loved the Alps of his homeland, according to the book Three Hundred Years of American Painting by Elliot, - the mountains resemble very much the Bernese Alps; they are of granite formation, the same as the Swiss mountains...The grouping of the rocks is charming....the color of the mountains are like those in Italy.Bierstadtâ's paintings in his day sold for much more than any other American artist had been able to command as much as $35,000.
Many of his paintings were developed from on-the-spot sketches of the American western landscape. He made two additional western journeys, one in 1863, the other from 1871 to 1873. In the interval between, he married Rosalie Ludlow, built Malkasten, a magnificent mansion overlooking the river at Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. He then undertook a two-year tour of Europe, where he and his wife mingled with the elite of British and Continental society. At the same time, he was painting spectacular pictures of western scenery, which were widely exhibited in the United States and abroad He balanced his wealth by his selfless participation in numerous charitable organizations and events.
He died in 1902, leaving a powerful legacy of the pristine American landscape. His landscapes of early America grace many American homes today.
Albert Bierstadt was among the most energetic, industrious, and internationally honored American artists of the nineteenth century.
Go to this website to see Bierstadtâs work.
http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/glenda/bierstadt/bierstadt.html
Notice that the objects in the foreground or front of the picture are dartker and larger than objects in the background or distance in the picture. This is an example of atmospheric perspective.
TAKING THIS ASSIGNMENT THROUGH THE CORE
SUBJECTS
English: Students can write an haiku poem about the scene. This is a poem with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line and 5 syllables in the third line. They can also write a setting for a story using the picture.
Science: Have students research the flora and fauna that would be native to this habitat.
Geography: Bierdstadt does scenes of specific places. Have students research where the picture is geographically.
Visual Manna offers FREE art lessons at their website, online courses and lessons as well as workshops and a complete line of art materials, books and resources. Visit their web site: http://www.visualmanna.com
