"The temptation (to criticize him) should be steadfastly resisted"
Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was an American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West...
Born in Germany, Bierstadt was brought to the United States at the age of one by his parents. He later returned to study painting for several years in Düsseldorf. He became part of the Hudson River Schoolin New York, an informal group of like-minded painters who started painting along this scenic river. Their style was based on carefully detailed paintings with romantic, almost glowing lighting, sometimes called luminism.
Despite his popular success, Bierstadt was criticized by some contemporaries for the romanticism evident in his choices of subject and his use of light was felt to be excessive. His exhibition pieces were brilliantly crafted images that glorified the American West as a land of promise. Bierstadt's choice of grandiloquent subjects was matched by his entrepreneurial flair. His exhibitions of individual works were accompanied by promotion, ticket sales, and, in the words of one critic, a "vast machinery of advertisement and puffery."
His wife was diagnosed with consumption in 1876, and from then until her death in 1893, Bierstadt spent time with her in the warmer climate of Nassau in the Bahamas. He also continued to travel to the West and Canada. In later life, Bierstadt's work fell increasingly out of critical favor. It was attacked for its theatrical tone.
9 comments:
You can climb to the top of Mt. Bierstadt, named the artist.
Route
You can also get struck by lightening up there. Sads.
"named after the artist"
I love his stuff.
It's so evocative of that period in America, especially before the Civil War (which I love).
You see it, close your eyes, and the soundtrack from just about every good Western you ever saw starts playing in your head.
It's unfortunate that even though you look at something and think "that's beautiful", you still have a need to find something wrong. I have that tendency too. I don't appreciate it, and I try to fight it with mixed results.
the painting above is one I've not seen before. I like it. I'm not a fan of his other work. Though, His level of commitment to the subject matter is unsurpassed, and his talent is exquisite and timeless.
Bierstadt's work is mind boggling. He wasn't really a photographic realist, though his work is filled with convincing detail. He was, and this is just my opinion, a great romantic. There's a painting of his in which he depicts the encampment, somewhere in western Wyoming just south of what is now Yellowstone Park, where the early Mountain Men met and traded with the local Indian tribes. It's all there. In the foreground and in deep morning shadow are the two groups intermingling, trading, talking, drinking, carousing. In the middle ground a mountain lake and behind it the majestic mountains in full morning light. Incredibly moving. Filled with details but more important both the reality and the myth CAUGHT. Bierstadt is one of the greats.
Some of his stuff is great. Some is a little too over-the-top.
I like Winslow Homer better.
AprilApple said...
You can climb to the top of Mt. Bierstadt, named the artist.
I have stood atop the summit of Mt. Bierstadt. It was a two-fer along with Mt. Evans.
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