Albert Bierstadt

Born: 1830
City and Country of Origin: Dusseldorf, Rhineland, Germany
Painting School: Realist
Art Training: Dusseldorf Academy
Exhibitions: Boston Athenaeum 1859-64, Brooklyn Art Association 1861-79, Boston Art Club 1873-80
Awards:
Major Works: "The Yosemite Valley," "The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak"
Albert Bierstadt Biography: He was born near Dusseldorf, Germany but immigrated with his parents to New Bedford Massachussetts in 1831. He later returned to Dusseldorf to study the grand style of painting. Although he maintained his studio in New York City, with his neighbors Frederick Church and Worthington Whittridge, he made the American West the subject of many of his grand sized paintings. He made his first trip out west in 1859 as a young painter in the party of Colonel Frederick W. Lander. While on the trip the young artist sketched and took advantage of the new art form photography. In his lifetime his great success as a painter reaped him large financial rewards which in time, as a result of changing trends in the art world, eventually led to his financial demise. In 1895 he finally declared bankruptcy.
Died: 1902