Albert Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt , 1830-1902, American painter of Western scenery, b. Germany. After traveling and sketching throughout the mountains of Europe, he returned to the United States. He then journeyed (1859) to the West with a trail-making expedition. His immense canvases of the Rocky Mts. and the Yosemite emphasized grandeur and drama, sometimes at the expense of clarity. His works were popular and commanded great prices during his lifetime. They include The Rocky Mountains (Metropolitan Mus.); Indian Encampment, Shoshone Village (N.Y. Public Lib.); The Last of the Buffalo (Corcoran Gall.); and Discovery of the Hudson River and The Settlement of California (Capitol, Washington, D.C.).

Bierstadt, Albert (1830–1902). German-born American painter, active mainly in New York. He made several trips to the Far West and was the leading figure of the Rocky Mountain School, specializing in grandiose pictures of awesome mountain scenery. His paintings—often huge in size —were immensely popular in his lifetime, but his on-the-spot sketches are now generally found much more appealing.