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 :. | Mount Washington | Lake Lucerne, Switzerland | Bahamas Harbour | California Spring | Pikes Peak, Rocky Mountains |
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Mikolas Ales
(November 18, 1852 in Mirotice near Pisek - July 10, 1913 in Prague) was a Czech painter. Ales was born in 1852 in Mirotice into a relatively rich family that was in debt at the time. He was taught history by his brother Frantisek until his death in 1865; he expressed interest in painting at an early age. In 1879 he got married to Marina Kailova and moved to Italy where he continued his career in painting. He moved back to Prague working on the new artwork at the Prague National Theatre; he died in Prague at the age of 60. Ales is estimated to have had over 5,000 published pictures, he has painted for everything from magazines to playing cards to textbooks. His paintings were not publicized too widely outside Bohemia, but many of them are still available, and Mikolas Ales is certainly regarded as one of the country's best painters
Nicholas Roerich
(Russian: ,October 9, 1874 - December 13, 1947), was a Russian mystic, painter, philosopher, scientist, writer, traveler, and public figure. A prolific artist, he created thousands of paintings (many of them are exhibited in well-known museums of the world) and about 30 literary works. Roerich was an author and initiator of an international pact for the protection of artistic and academic institutions and historical sites (Roerich's Pact) and a founder of an international movement for the defence of culture. Roerich earned several nominations for the Nobel Prize.
CHANGENET, Jean
b.1486-d.1493