bierstadt

5

• In  the  mid  19th  century,  a  group  of  painters  emerged  whose  artworks  reflected  a  romanticized  beauty  in  the  landscapes  they  created.  German-born  Albert  Bierstadt  was  one  of  these  artists.  He  traveled  west  with  the  Frederick  W.  Lander  Survey  team  in  1859  to  document  the  “wild  west.”  His  travels  brought  him  through  Nebraska  along  the  Platte  River  where  he  spent  time  in  the  area  south  of  Kearney,  which  eventually  became  the  site  of  Ft.  Kearny,  built  to  protect  travelers  on  the  Oregon  Trail.  While  on  this  trip,  he  made  several  “field  sketches”  such  as  the  ones  you  see  here  entitled  Clouds  Coming  Over  the  Plains  and  Clouds  Over  the  Prairie.  These  paintings,  also  referred  to  as  “plein-air  sketches,”  served  as  studies  for  his  grand  canvases  that  captured  the  interest  of  collectors  and  patrons  in  the  east  and  sold  for  enormous  sums  of  money.
  
  By  1882  his  fortunes  began  their  decline  and  he  soon  lost  favor  with  the  public.  In  recent  years,  there  has  been  a  new  appreciation  of  Albert  Bierstadt,  especially  for  the  smaller  oil  studies  that  witness  the  accuracy  and  immediacy  of  the  scenic  landscape.
  

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