Albert Bierstadt
(1830-1902)  - German American
             Painting of the Week - Looking Up the Yosemite Valley

MONDAY - Bierstadt: a painter of the American wilderness

Albert Bierstadt loved to paint majestic views such as can be found in our national parks.  Albert Bierstadt was a German who immigrated to America. 

Among the Sierra Nevada, California, 1868, Albert Bierstadt, Smithsonian American Art Museum

His paintings of the Rockies enabled many Americans to see what the mountains looked like for the first time, and he is credited as one of the first artists to show the beauty and vastness of America.  ​

Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains by Bierstadt

Bierstadt’s painting, Among the Sierra Nevada, is 120 X 72 inches. The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range, most of which is located in California. 

Looking Up the Yosemite Valley by Bierstadt

Bierstadt’s American landscapes make him a fitting choice as our school celebrates the 100 year anniversary of the United States National Parks.  Our painting of the week is Looking Up the Yosemite Valley.  Based on sketches Bierstadt made during a 1863 visit, the painting depicts one of America’s most scenic spots which was within what is now Yosemite National Park. It was Bierstadt’s first large-scale Yosemite picture, a subject for which he became well known. ​

Bierstadt's In the Mountains

TUESDAY 

Mount Corcoran by Bierstadt

Bierstadt’s paintings were popular because people in the eastern United States were fascinated by the western frontier.  Prints from his paintings are still popular today. 

Long's Peak, Estes Park by Bierstadt

Bierstadt's paintings helped create an appreciation for America's natural beauty and a desire to preserve it, which led to the creation of national parks. A lake is even named after Bierstadt which is located in what is now Rocky Mountain National Park.  Bierstadt was brought to the area in 1876 by a wealthy Irish aristocrat to produce a painting for a castle in Wales.      

Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado

Rocky Mountain National Park has 265,000 acres in Colorado.  The park has some of the most spectacular scenery in the world with 60 mountain peaks above 12,000 feet. Rocky Mountain National Park also has 147 lakes, roughly 450 miles of streams, and several small glaciers and permanent snowfields that can be found in the high mountains.

Landers Peak by Bierstadt

Bierstadt completed over 500 paintings during his lifetime.  

Storm in the Mountains by Bierstadt

Many of these are held by museums across the United States and in Europe.  ​

YouTube video - Slide show of Bierstadt's paintings(7:01 min.)

Website (good site to see all Bierstadt's paintings)

WEDNESDAY - Bierstadt and the Hudson River School

Thomas Cole's The Oxbow - Hudson River School

Frederic Church's Heart of the Andes - Hudson River School

Bierstadt was considered part of the Hudson River School in New York.  The Hudson River School was a group of landscape artists who started painting along that scenic river in New York.  Their style of painting celebrated the American wilderness with detailed, realistic, and sometimes idealized paintings.

Sunglow by Bierstadt

Hetch Hetchly Valley in Yosemite by Bierstadt

This Hetch Hetchy Valley scene in Yosemite painted by Bierstadt is now under water from a dam that was built in 1923.  

Cathedral Rock in Yosemite by Bierstadt

This Bierstadt painting depicts Cathedral Rock in Yosemite National Park.

YouTube video - Hudson River School [for upper grades] (3:04 min.)

THURSDAY - Bierstadt and Yellowstone

Yellowstone Falls by Bierstadt

Bierstadt traveled to the region of Yellowstone in 1871.  

Like many other artists, he was inspired by the scenery to paint majestic landscapes.  ​

Old Faithful by Bierstadt

Geysers of Yellowstone by Bierstadt

Bierstadt made several drawings of the geysers in Yellowstone. Approximately half of the world's geysers are found in Yellowstone.   

Old Faithful is the most famous geyser in Yellowstone, but the park contains many more such as this one, Riverside Geyser.  There are more than 10,000 hot springs and geysers in Yellowstone National Park.

​His art of the region influenced the U.S. Congress to set aside Yellowstone as a park in 1872, making it the first national park in the world.

FRIDAY - Honors for Bierstadt

Yosemite Valley by Bierstadt

Bierstadt is one of the few artists we’ve learned about who enjoyed success as a painter within his lifetime.  His large paintings of the American West were highly valued by 19th century art collectors. Bierstadt’s paintings sold for record-breaking prices for his time.     ​

The Rocky Mountain, Lander's Peak by Bierstadt

​The Rocky Mountain, Lander’s Peak, which he completed in 1863, sold for $25,000 in 1865.  In Bierstadt’s later years, his work fell out of favor as being too romantic or theatrical.  During the 1960’s, interest in his work was renewed and his paintings are still appreciated today.

The Last Buffalo by Bierstadt

Because of Bierstadt's interest in painting the landforms of the American West, a mountain, Mount Bierstadt, and a Lake, Bierstadt Lake in Colorado were named in his honor.  In 1998, a U.S. postage stamp featured his painting, The Last of the Buffalo. Another stamp was issued in 2008 of his painting Valley of the Yosemite.

Valley of the Yosemite by Bierstadt

Website with Bierstadt landscape art lesson [upper grades]

SOURCES:

"Albert Bierstadt Biography".Albertbierstadt.org. N. p., 2016. Web. 18 Aug. 2016.

"Albert Bierstadt: Landscapes Of The American West | Wyohistory.Org".Wyohistory.org. N. p., 2016. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.

"Albert Bierstadt". Wikipedia. N. p., 2016. Web. 18 Aug. 2016.

Among the Sierra Nevada, California by Albert Bierstadt / American Art. (2016).Americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 14 August 2016, from http://americanar​t.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=2059

Bierstadt Lake - Hike Bierstadt Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. (2016).Rockymountainhikingtrails.com. Retrieved 15 August 2016, from http://www.rockymountainhikingtrails.com/bierstadt-lake.htm

Centerofthewest.org. N. p., 2016. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.

Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California. (2016). Wikipedia. Retrieved 14 August 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_Down_Yosemite_Valley,_California

McClure, N. (2015). Points West Online: Artists in America's First National Park.Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Retrieved 15 August 2016, from https://centerofthewest.org/2015/03/08/points-west-artists-in-americas-first-national-park/

Arkansas Visual Arts Frameworks

VA.7.5.3  Examine ways the physical environment affects visual art and the ways visual art affects the environment