German-born American Hudson River School Painter, 1830-1902 Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany. His family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1833. He studied painting with the members of the D??sseldorf School in D??sseldorf, Germany from 1853 to 1857. He taught drawing and painting briefly before devoting himself to painting. Bierstadt began making paintings in New England and upstate New York. In 1859, he traveled westward in the company of a Land Surveyor for the U.S. government, returning with sketches that would result in numerous finished paintings. In 1863 he returned west again, in the company of the author Fitz Hugh Ludlow, whose wife he would later marry. He continued to visit the American West throughout his career. Though his paintings sold for princely sums, Bierstadt was not held in particularly high esteem by critics of his day. His use of uncommonly large canvases was thought to be an egotistical indulgence, as his paintings would invariably dwarf those of his contemporaries when they were displayed together. The romanticism evident in his choices of subject and in his use of light was felt to be excessive by contemporary critics. His paintings emphasized atmospheric elements like fog, clouds and mist to accentuate and complement the feel of his work. Bierstadt sometimes changed details of the landscape to inspire awe. The colors he used are also not always true. He painted what he believed is the way things should be: water is ultramarine, vegetation is lush and green, etc. The shift from foreground to background was very dramatic and there was almost no middle distance Nonetheless, his paintings remain popular. He was a prolific artist, having completed over 500 (possibly as many as 4000) paintings during his lifetime, most of which have survived. Many are scattered through museums around the United States. Prints are available commercially for many. Original paintings themselves do occasionally come up for sale, at ever increasing prices.  Related Paintings of Albert Bierstadt :. | High in the Mountains | Sunrise in the Sierras | Sunset in the Yosemite Valley | Indian Scout | Men in Two Canoes |
Related Artists:
Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael
painted Landscape with Dune and Small Waterfall in 1646
Alois Auer von Welsbach
Wels1813-1869 Vienna
Joris van Son
1623-1667) was a highly popular Flemish Baroque painter of fruit and flowers, in banquet style on a plank, but also in garland form. He seems to have been influenced by Jan Davidszoon de Heem, since his subjects follow his style quite closely. According to Houbraken his paintings were prized for preserving summer plenty in the middle of winter. In a poem by Cornelis de Bie, it is written that his fruits would tempt a pregnant woman. His paintings hang in many european museums, and the Dutch RKD has over 70 known works by him on record. He signed his works JORIS VAN SON. His students were Frans van Everbroeck, Jan Pauwel Gillemans II, and Norbert Montalie.