Albert Bierstadt Essay

Author Jerry Frank explains how art not only captures a beautiful scene, but informs the public on what is considered beautiful.

“In this light, the paintings of Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, Albert Bierstadt, and others during the nineteenth century provided more than exquisite examples of landscape art. They infused an idealized natural world with the spirit of God, thereby transforming a hectic and dark wilderness of the imagination into places of perceived beauty and reverence. To those fortunate enough to view the works of American masters, landscape painters of the nineteenth century were doing much more than entertaining viewers with striking scenery; they were teaching viewers how to appreciate nature and exactly what sorts of natural

scenes were worth adulation.”
This quote perfectly describes what the class Art and American National Parks is focused around. Albert Bierstadt is included in the list of artist described by Frank and for good reason. Bierstadt was able to make substantial impact in the art world as well as in nature in a very short time period by using his artistic eye as a way to influence the public. Albert Bierstadt was able to portray the West as he saw it, grand, complex in its beauty, and in need of protection.
Albert Bierstadt is very much connected to the Rocky Mountains, because he is considered one of the first major artists to be invited to paint scenes in this part of the west. There was a sense of competition between landscape artists at the time, so to be connected to even just one landmark is exceptional. It was said that even Thomas Moran, one of Bierstadt’s rivals in the field, “took his cue from the panoramic format of Bierstadt’s highly successful Rock Mountain scenes.” In fact is was Thomas Moran who like many artist went out to the Rocky Mountain Range to get a glimpse of the mysterious and sublime landscape. This movement of artist happened after being influenced by Bierstadt’s The Rocky Mountains in 1863.
Albert Bierstadt studied landscape painting at Düsseldorf in Germany. He is considered “a true representative of the Düsseldorf school in landscape.” The training Bierstadt received at Düsseldorf has impacted his reputation both positively and negatively. The painter was praise for having good intentions when painting and being able to carry them out very well. Some of the techniques uses he learn in Düsseldorf to emphasis some of the characteristic of nature, such as “snowcapped, pink-tinged mountain peaks elevated and sharpened; highly polished lake surfaces that mirrored foliage; plunging declivities; and more important, theatrical lightening.” Another negative comment about his work focused surprisingly on him choice to use large oversized canvases.
Of course the positive feedback from critics outweighed the negative because of how much the collection of painting were considered to be the first of its kind.

Albert Bierstadt’s work was considered “to capture successfully the wonder and excitement that the artist and other early trailblazers felt when they confronted the spectacular western scenery. His panoramic scenes of the Rockies therefore attracted universal attention in the 1860s…”

With the painting that was created in his time at the Rocky Mountains his intentions were to show the public the beauty that rested in the mysterious wilderness. A few years after Bierstadt’s The Rocky Mountain was finished the actual Rocky Mountains were nicknamed the “Future Switzerland of America.” This could be because of the way Bierstadt portrayed the mountain range.

The paintings Albert Bierstadt worked on were not the only influence that helped establish the mountain range as a national park; he himself was often sought after for his artistic eye. After finishing his painting of Longs Peak Earl of Dunraven asked Bierstadt to use his skill and trained eye to find a clearing for a hotel to build at Estes Park. Today I believe the hotel is called Dunraven Inn. It did not saying anything about their history, but mostly likely they take advantage of their fulfilling historic story. After the hotel was built very quickly Estes Park opened up the very next

year.
In 1876 Albert Bierstadt returned to the Rocky Mountains, this time going to Estes Park. Where Earl of Dunraven hired him to paint Estes Park and Longs Peak. Windham Thomas Wyndam-Quin, the fourth Earl of Dunraven was his full name. It was reported that Earl of Dunraven paid Bierstadt fifteen thousand dollars after it was completed in 1877. The oil painting measured out to be 62’’ by 98’’. After its completion Earl of Dunraven had it shipped to Europe to decorate the walls of Dunraven Castel. Most of the land in Estes Park was turned into a resort before Congress was able to pass a bill to have it protected. Also the land was not considered a National Park until 1915, so this resort was the only way to preserve the land at the time.
Bierstadt’s intention for painting Longs Peak was to capture the historical landscape in order to show its beauty and importance. His painting not only took a snapshot of what the scene looked like, but also acted as an influential piece. Although this particular painting had very lose change of being seen by Congress in order to influence them into protecting the land. The paintings that Bierstadt had created on his first trip had. The painting of Longs Peak was sent to Europe and could have become an influential piece in the Castle.
The major elements in the picture are a broken tree and an uneven forest, mountains in the distance, and a sweeping valley connecting the two. These three elements are loosely arranged and gradually flow into each element. Bierstadt was known for using oversized canvases and this painting was no exception. It only seems fitting to paint Longs Peak on such a canvas because of the mountain’s size. Longs Peak towers about all other summits in the National Park, at 14,259 feet, but on the canvas barely takes up half the space.
The steeper strong diagonal lines in the mountain are to emphasis their monumentality. Every line that indicated the slop of the mountain shows movement within this strong and steady landmark. The diagonal lines used in the valley are less dramatic and more delicate, almost horizontal, giving the valley a much more rested and calm reaction. In the foreground there is a combination of what is seen in the mountain and valley. The lines are again gently diagonal, but it does not give off the same calm reaction the valley does, because of the shadows used in order for it to look eerie.
Over all, the entire picture is made up of darker tinted colors. A green hue is seen in the foreground, the valley, and continues on the side of the mountain. This hue adds an eerie and mysterious tone to the painting, which goes along with what the general public thought of wilderness at the time. The dark value is only used where the green hue is present. Bierstadt’s choice to paint in a variety of darker shades only make the brightness of the mountain stand out more.
Contrasting with the mysterious tone in the foreground, the mountain in the background is set up to look like heaven. Suggesting to the audience that the wilderness can be inviting. The light value used in the background and foregrounds are very much contrasting when thinking about the tone it is able to set. The lighter colors used in the mountains are presenting a peaceful tone, while the light cascading on the valley floor adds to the eerie tone of the wilderness.
The light value is used primarily in the mountains in the distances, growing brighter as the mountains fade into the background fog. The point at which the fog is covering up the majority of the mountain view is where the brightest whites are seen. Overall the light tends to follow the flow of the line. Light is only projected intensity on the sides of the mountains in the background.
By comparing the sizes of the trees in the foreground to the ones on the rolling hills, it becomes clear how far one element is from the other, the viewer is able to understand the vastness of the space. Bierstadt created deep recession of miles and miles by using the trees as an indicator on how far away the mountain is from the foreground it is. This indication of measurement can also be used to understand the size of the mountain.
The form is portrayed naturalistically. This is one of the techniques Albert Bierstadt learned at Düsseldorf while is school. The light can be seen as exaggerated when used in contrasting between the light and dark spaces. This is one of the criticisms that Albert Bierstadt is known for. The forms show they have been derived from nature. This is conveyed visually by the natural flow between characteristics in the land. Nothing drastically changes but rather it is a smooth transition into the mountains.
Longs Peak can be seen almost from any point in the park. It is interesting that Albert Bierstadt chose this particular scene to capture the great summit. Another interesting point that can question Bierstadt’s intentions is the choice of weather. It is said that, “changing weather reflects Longs Peak’s many moods.” It is wondered why with so much viewing of the spectacular summit he choice to cover it with on coming fog.
Albert Bierstadt’s popularity was short lived. Into the mid-1870s the public approval for him decreased. “Several decades later he was almost forgotten.” It is said that this change in his social status was influenced by “a change in the tastes and values of American society.”
Major Stephen H. Long is the man who brought Albert Bierstadt to the Rocky Mountains, but also named the Peak Bierstadt was later commissioned to paint. Stephen Long’s first expedition he led was in the 1820s. Some extraordinary human emotion was attached to the first time the expedition say the Rocky Mountains, “and we had a distant view of the summit of a range of mountain-which to our great satisfaction and heart felt joy, was declared by the commanding officer to the be the range of the Rocky Mountains…He added that a high Peake was plainly to be distinguished towering about al the others as far as the sigh extended.” Not long after that same peak was name after Stephen Long as Longs Peak. The feelings that came from seeing the Rocky Mountains can only felt by these men who after weeks of seeing only flat prairie were grateful for a change of scene.
The painting of Longs Peak was done on another trip after Albert Bierstadt’s first travels to the Rocky Mountains starting in 1859, when he painted the famous, The Rocky Mountains in the 1960s. The New Bedford Daily Mercury reported Bierstadt’s travel dates. It wrote, “ about to start for the Rocky Mountain, to study the scenery of that wild region, and the picturesque facts of Indian life. With reference to a series of large pictures.” This version of the Rocky Mountains is why Albert Bierstadt is still talked about today. At the time it was released for viewing the painter instantly became famous. He received immense amount of praise. Trenton wrote that one New York newspaper wrote, [The Rocky Mountains] “which became an immediate sensation, catapulting its author into national fame and making him a serious contender for Church’s crown. This popular acclaim caused one critic to remark extravagantly that his picture deserved to take rank among the highest exiting production of American landscape art, while another dared to suggest that Bierstadt might not be considered superior even to Church.”
Once out West for some time Albert Bierstadt composed a letter to the editor of the Crayon about the impressions he was gathering of the country that surrounded him. It read;
“If you can form any idea of the scenery of the Rocky Mountains and of our life in this region, from what I have to write, I shall be very glad; there is indeed enough to write about…The mountains are very fine; as seen from the plains, they resemble very much the Bernese Alps…They are of a granite formation, the same as the Swiss mountains and their jagged summits, covered with snow and mingling with the cloud. Present a scene which every lover of landscape would gaze upon with unqualified delight. As you approach them, the lower hills present themselves. More or less clothed with a great variety of trees, among which may be found the cotton-wood, lining the river bands, the aspen, and several species of the fir and the pine…And such a charming grouping of rocks, so find in color…Artist would be delighted with them…”
The words he use to describe the land is as intricate and complex as his paintings. His growing love for the land can be noticed in this letter and confirmed in the painting that came from his travels West.
Again Jerry Frank perfectly describes the important of art at the time of expeditions and now. He describes it very similar to how our class has understood the importance of art.

“Visitors come to Rocky carrying important and interesting cultural baggage including unique notions of beauty, nature, and perfection. During the nineteenth century one important component of how Americans experienced and assimilated constructions of the natural world lay in interpretation of visual art. The act of constructing visual representations (through painting, for example) and the process through which people assimilate such works reveals a great deal about how we understand nature and what we expect it to be in it idealized form.”
Although finding that the Longs Peak painting was not seen by Congress or had as much influence as the first group of painting from Albert Bierstadt’ travels had, he himself and the painting helped open up the first park before Congress was able to sign a bill to protect the land. Earl of Dunraven can be seen as a land grabber, but without his help we might not have Estes Park or Longs Peak the way it is today.
Most importantly he made an impact on the general public who are the people that would travel the Estes Park and soon The Rocky Mountain National Park in order to view what Bierstadt had encountered. “Following his 1859 trip to the West, Bierstadt unveiled a series of “great paintings” of the Rockies that were almost as popular with the press as they were with the public…Bierstadt made the Rocky Mountains synonymous with grandeur in the mind of the public.” The last half of this quotes shows how influential Bierstadt’s work really was not only to art lovers, but also to the general public. Since the Estes Park opening the number of tourist grew from 1870s into the 1880s. The growing popularity among vacationers were because of adventurous travelers.