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 :. | Bears in the Wilderness | Men in Two Canoes | Looking Down the Yosemite Valley, California | Rocky Mountains | A Rustic Mill |
Related Artists:
Josep Morell Macias
Spain (1899- 1949 ) painted Arreglant-se per anar a ballar in 1882
Johan Christian Dahl
1788-1857 Norwegian 1857). Norwegian painter and collector, active in Germany. His paintings, imbued with Romantic and patriotic sentiments, had a strong influence on the landscape tradition both in Germany (especially Dresden) and in his native Norway.
August Jernberg
(16 September 1826 - 22 June 1896) was a Swedish artist who emigrated to Germany. In his early years he mainly painted portraits, and historical or biblical pictures. In the 1860s he became a genre and landscape painter. He studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm 1843-1846 and then went to Paris, where he studied under Thomas Couture from 1847 to 1853. In 1854 he settled down in Desseldorf, and remained there until his death, with the exceptions of some shorter trips. Also his son Olof Jernberg (1855 - 1935) was an artist.