German-born American Hudson River School Painter, 1830-1902 Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany. His family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1833. He studied painting with the members of the D??sseldorf School in D??sseldorf, Germany from 1853 to 1857. He taught drawing and painting briefly before devoting himself to painting. Bierstadt began making paintings in New England and upstate New York. In 1859, he traveled westward in the company of a Land Surveyor for the U.S. government, returning with sketches that would result in numerous finished paintings. In 1863 he returned west again, in the company of the author Fitz Hugh Ludlow, whose wife he would later marry. He continued to visit the American West throughout his career. Though his paintings sold for princely sums, Bierstadt was not held in particularly high esteem by critics of his day. His use of uncommonly large canvases was thought to be an egotistical indulgence, as his paintings would invariably dwarf those of his contemporaries when they were displayed together. The romanticism evident in his choices of subject and in his use of light was felt to be excessive by contemporary critics. His paintings emphasized atmospheric elements like fog, clouds and mist to accentuate and complement the feel of his work. Bierstadt sometimes changed details of the landscape to inspire awe. The colors he used are also not always true. He painted what he believed is the way things should be: water is ultramarine, vegetation is lush and green, etc. The shift from foreground to background was very dramatic and there was almost no middle distance Nonetheless, his paintings remain popular. He was a prolific artist, having completed over 500 (possibly as many as 4000) paintings during his lifetime, most of which have survived. Many are scattered through museums around the United States. Prints are available commercially for many. Original paintings themselves do occasionally come up for sale, at ever increasing prices.  Related Paintings of Albert Bierstadt :. | Elk Grazing in the Wind River Country | Indian Encampment, Shoshone Village - in a riparian forest, western United States | View of Wetterhorn from the Valley of Grindelwald | Wreck of the Ancon in Loring Bay, Alaska | Sierra_Nevada_aka_From_the_Head_of_the_Carson_River, California |
Related Artists:
Benoit Hermogaste Molin
painted Painting of Maria Adelaide, wife of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy in 1848
Allan osterlind
painted Lekande barn - sommar pa fabodvallen in 1890
Evert Collier
(c. 1640 - few days before September 8, 1708) was a Dutch painter known for vanitas still-life and trompe l'oeil paintings. His first name is sometimes spelled "Edward" or "Edwaert" or "Eduwaert" or "Edwart," and his last name is sometimes spelled "Colyer" or "Kollier". Evert Collier was born between 1630 and 1650 in Breda, Noord-Brabant, and died in 1708. He is believed to have trained in Haarlem, as his earliest paintings show the influence of Pieter Claesz and Vincent Laurensz van der Vinne. By 1667, he had moved to Leiden, where he became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in 1673. He moved to Amsterdam by 1686 and to London in 1693. He was buried September 8, 1708 at St. James's, Piccadilly.