Bierstadt, Albert, 1830-1902

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1830
Death 1892
Birth 1830-01-08
Death 1902-02-18
Active 1819
Active 1943
Germans

Biographical notes:

Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) was a landscape painter from New York, N.Y.

From the description of Albert Bierstadt letters, 1880-1893. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 233006971

Landscape painter; New York, N.Y.

From the description of Albert Bierstadt letters, 1880-1893. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122557002

German-American painter.

From the description of Autograph letter signed : New York, to Hiram Powers, 1870 Apr. 5. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270958184

Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) was a German-American painter, who became known for his large landscapes of the American West. He was associated with the Hudson River School, a group of New York City-based landscape painters of the mid-19th century, who were influenced by Thomas Cole. In 1859, he travelled with a government survey expedition to the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains in what is now Wyoming and visited Yosemite in 1866, producing a number of paintings inspired by the region.

From the guide to the Albert Bierstadt Letter (MS 175), [1851 or 1881?], (University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept.)

Artist.

From the description of Albert Bierstadt correspondence, 1864-1879. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79450654

American painter.

From the description of Letters sent, 1867, 1879. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 80745054

Bierstadt was a landscape painter; New York, N.Y.

From the description of Albert Bierstadt letter to Gen. Nelson Miles, 1873. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 226956310

German-born artist, painter of the American West. Writing to William N. Byers, a pioneer Colorado newspaperman.

From the description of Letter, 1891 June 3, London, to Mr. Byers. (Denver Public Library). WorldCat record id: 13659451

Albert Bierstadt was a landscape and animal painter. Born in Germany on Jan. 7, 1830, he came to America as a baby and grew up in New Bedford, Ma. He returned to Germany at the age of 23 and studied painting there and in Rome until 1857. In 1858 Bierstadt made a trip to the American West. In 1860 he settled in New York City and was made a National Academician. For a number of years Bierstadt had a studio at Irvington-on-the-Hudson, but after 1882 he lived in New York City permanently. He died there in 1902. His sister, Eliza, was involved in his career.

From the description of Collection, 1855-1927. (Winterthur Library). WorldCat record id: 84666148

Albert Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany, in January 1830. His family emigrated to the United States when he was two years of age and settled in Bedford, Massachusetts.

In 1853 Bierstadt traveled to Germany to study painting at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. In 1858, following his return to the United States, he gained national attention for organizing a large exhibition of paintings including fifteen of his own works. Bierstadt drew inspiration from the painters of the Hudson River School, and regularly visited the White Mountains of New Hampshire to make sketches for his landscape paintings.

In 1859 Bierstadt traveled to the Colorado and Wyoming territories sketching landscapes in the company of a United States government survey expedition. On his return he took studio space at the new Tenth Street Studio Building in New York City and began a series of large-scale western landscape paintings, including Yosemite Valley and Thunderstorm in the Rocky Mountains . These paintings, known for their theatrical and romantic depiction of the grandeur and drama of the American West, brought Bierstadt great popularity during the 1860s.

Bierstadt's paintings were widely exhibited in the United States and abroad and commanded some of the highest prices in American art at the time, although his reputation began to decline somewhat in the 1880s in the face of changing public tastes.

Bierstadt was a member of the Century Association from 1862-1902 and a member of the National Academy of Design from 1860 until his death in 1902.

From the guide to the Albert Bierstadt letter collection, 1860-1900, (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)

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Subjects:

  • Art, American
  • Artists, American
  • Art
  • Art
  • Artists
  • Artists
  • Artists
  • Artists' preparatory studies
  • Artists' studios
  • Artists' studios
  • Art patrons
  • Butterflies
  • Drawing
  • Drawing, American
  • Engraving, American
  • Fine Arts
  • Hudson River school of landscape painting
  • Indian art
  • Indians of North America
  • Landscape painters
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  • Real property
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  • Art
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  • Painting, American

Occupations:

  • Artists
  • Painter
  • Painters

Places:

  • United States (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • Yosemite National Park (Calif.) (as recorded)
  • Bridalveil Fall (Calif.) (as recorded)
  • Rocky Mountains (as recorded)
  • Yosemite National Park (Calif.) (as recorded)
  • Yosemite National Park (Calif.) (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--New York (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--New York (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--New York (as recorded)
  • West (U.S.) (as recorded)
  • West (U.S.) (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--New York (as recorded)
  • West (U.S.) (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--New York (as recorded)
  • Yosemite National Park (Calif.) (as recorded)