Albert Bierstadt Biography | Oil Painting Reproductions

Albert Bierstadt at two years old with his family emigrated to the United States, settling in New Bedford, Massachusetts. When he was twenty, he was supporting himself by teaching "monochromatic" painting and his work was starting to attract the attention of New Bedford collectors.

In 1853, Albert Bierstadt ventured out to Düsseldorf so as to expand his art education. During this period, he was acquainted with the work of Carl Friedrich Lessing and Andreas Achenbach, contemporary German painters generally respected for their heroic, highly finished landscape compositions. Bierstadt immediately retained these stylistic traditions, in the long run turning into the main American representative of the Düsseldorf style.

In April of 1859, he joined the expedition along the Overland Trail, driven by Colonel Frederick W. Lander, an outing that would soon give rise to the most beneficial and critical period of his art career. He came back to New York City in 1859, setting up his studio. There Albert Bierstadt delivered the first of the all-encompassing western scenes that established his reputation on a worldwide level and during the mid-1860s, made him a rival of Frederick Church for the position of America's best painter.

Bierstadt Sentimental Dreams of the American Frontier.

Since a great part of the mainland stayed still generally unexplored around then, Bierstadt's fantastic renderings of mountains and waterfalls created sentimental dreams in the minds of Easterners. During the 1870s, Bierstadt executed a mural for the U.S. Capitol.

Albert Bierstadt made vast scale, encompassing oil painting landscapes with emotional, almost sublime light effects. His works can be found in major public and private collections throughout North America and Europe, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, making him one of the world's artist. In a career spanning the entire second half of the 19th century, he emerged as the main modern artist to go to the Far West and produce oil paintings powerful in their nationalistic and religious symbolism.

Albert Bierstadt became internationally known for his lovely and huge oil paintings which sold at staggeringly high prices at that time. His popularity and riches rose to enormous heights just only to fade as enthusiasm for Impressionism turned public taste away from his landscapes. By 1895 he announced himself bankrupt.

On account of Bierstadt's enthusiasm for mountain landscapes scenes, Mount Bierstadt and Bierstadt Lake in Colorado are named in his honor. In 1998 and in 2008, the US Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in its "American Treasures" series featuring Bierstadt's paintings.

Look at our THEN & NOW photo section. See, the present day location that inspired the famous artist Albert Bierstadt. We travel the world to find the exact location where the artist set up his easel to paint, and photograph it as it appears today. Now, you can compare side by side photos of the original oil painting and the present-day location. In addition, we have taken his paintings and using TILT-SHIFT Photography, have created a unique new interpretation of the museum masterpieces.

Art Movement: Hudson River School, Luminism.
Artists Influencing Albert Bierstadt: Carl Friedrich Lessing, Andreas Achenbach.
He Traveled To Bahamas, Canada, Italy, Germany.
Painters Albert Bierstadt Influenced: William Bliss Baker.
Artist's Biography compiled by Albert L. Mansour at The World's Artist, with text adapted from Wikipedia.