Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902)
Albert Bierstadt was an American artist best known for huge paintings of the
American West. Born in Germany, Bierstadt immigrated to the United States with
his family at age two.
As
a young man, he returned to Germany to study art, but soon fell in love with
the Rocky Mountains and the landscapes of the American West. He tried to evoke
the grandeur and beauty of the mountains and valleys of the West. This painting,
Garden of the Rockies,shows his monumental style. And sometimes he even
rearranged mountains on his canvas to create a more impressive landscape!
These enormous paintings—some are over ten feet wide—became very popular in the 1860s and 1870s. One painting, "The Discovery of the Hudson," was displayed in the United States Capitol.
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