Burke Stage 5 Research Development: Albert Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German born-American painter who was known for his beautiful and awe inspiring landscape painting work. Beirstadt was a member of the Hudson River School. (see my blog entry on the HRS for more information)

Albert Bierstadt

I chose to write about Bierstadt because his style of creating artwork, much like the other artists of the Hudson River School, was not neccessarily about absolute realism, but rather an idealised portrayal of nature intended to make an image more inspiring and grandiose.

During extensive travels in both Europe and the American West, Bierstadt was heavily inspired and drawn to the beauty of the natural landscape. Taking quick sketches and colour studies whilst on location, Bierstadt would later on, in the comfort of his studio, paint grand scenes on large canvases.

While painting, Bierstadt would emphasise certain natural elements of the scene, including the interplay of light and shadow, the vividness and hue of the colours, the formation of clouds and fog, and a glowing aura to the image overall (the main trait of Luminism, the name given to the art style created by Hudson River School artists). While doing this he would retain the other elements of the scene as he remembered them, such as the mountains, trees, rivers etc

I find this approach to image creation to be particularly interesting because it allows the artist to depict a realistic scene with a highly stylised approached that allows the viewer to bear witness to a scene that they would not have been able to see otherwise. Bearing much similarity to the way a photographer would take a portrait of a person, displaying the subject in their most ideal light, so Bierstadt wished to show the natural landscape at its very best.

Here are a few of Bierstadts artworks.