Wind River Country
- Albert Bierstadt, American, 1830-1902
- Born: Solingen, Germany
Albert Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany in 1830, and was brought to New York at the age of two. He returned to Germany when he was twenty-one years old to study at the Düsseldorf Academy. Eight years later, in 1859, Bierstadt made his first trip to the Rocky Mountains when he joined a government expedition led by Colonel Frederick W. Lander (for whom Lander, Wyoming was named). Following this trip, he opened a studio in New York, where he drew from his sketches, photographs, specimens, and Indian artifacts to create large landscape paintings. Through his artwork, Bierstadt introduced Easterners to the scenery of the Rockies. While still in his early thirties, Bierstadt became one of the most successful and highly paid painters in the United States.
The Wind River Range is part of the Rocky Mountains, located in western Wyoming. Bierstadt identified the river here as the Sweetwater River, and the prominent mountain as Fremont’s Peak, known today as Temple Peak. Bierstadt liked the Wind River area enough to return there after he left the Lander expedition. As one of America’s early artist-explorers, he was looking for personal adventure and hoping to establish his artistic “territory.” The Wind River area is the subject of many of his works. Around the time Wind River Country was painted (1860), interest in the American West had reached a high point. This was in part due to western movement along the Oregon Trail; and to the writers, artists, and surveyors who had reported on the region over the past thirty years. Interest in finding American landscapes that would rival the European Alps was also growing. Bierstadt’s paintings satisfied on both counts—they delivered both heightened grandeur and specific details and places.
Details
Scale
Bierstadt liked the theatricality of a large painting. Wind River Country measures 42 ½” wide x 30 ½” tall, and some of his later pictures were four times that size. Sometimes, Bierstadt would show his work on a stage with dramatic lighting and viewers could pay admission to look at the painting with opera glasses.
Sense of Depth
Bierstadt was very interested in early photography, shooting photos on his journeys west that he could view through a stereoscope for a three-dimensional effect. Working with photographic source material in his studio may have contributed to Bierstadt’s convincing illusion of space. Looking at the mountains we can see clearly that some are close to our vantage point, while others are far away.
Light & Dark
Warm colors highlight areas touched by the sun. The viewer’s eyes are drawn to lighter areas, particularly the mountains in the distance.
Details
The foreground is full of details—carefully rendered foliage, rocks, a hollow log. In his studio, Bierstadt drew from multiple field sketches and photos to compose a pleasing picture. The scene we see here is a composite view, not an individual scene that the artist witnessed.
No Reference to Humans or Civilization
We see nature here as untouched by humans. The landscape appears rather inaccessible; there is no clear way one would be able to navigate through the scene.
Rawness of Nature
The image of a grizzly bear feeding on an antelope contributes to the sense of scale and adds drama to the scene.
The Highest Peak
Bierstadt uses several pictorial techniques to suggest the importance of the distant peak. It is placed only slightly off-center, and has framing elements on all sides—trees, clouds, and the darker mountains in front of it are parted aside. The hazy air makes the peak lighter and brighter.
More Resources
Books
Avery, K. American Paradise: The World of the Hudson River School. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987.
A depiction of the history, traditions and artists of the Hudson River School.
Brooklyn Museum. Albert Bierstadt, Art and Enterprise. New York: Hudson Hills Press, Inc., 1990.
A biography of the artist, including examples of his work and information about his involvement in the business of printmaking.
Delaney, Michelle. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Warriors: A Photographic History by Gertrude Kasebier. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.
A stunning pictorial collection that tells the story of the legend of Buffalo Bill and his performers.
Glanz, Dawn. How the West was Drawn: American Art and the Settling of the Frontier. Michigan: UMI Research Press, 1982.
An exploration of 19th century American westward expansion as represented in the visual arts.
Gulbrandsen, Don. Visions of the American West, Landscapes. New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 2007
An oversized book holding numerous, massive color-plates of western artists' work.
Kerasote, Ted. Heart of Home. New York: Villard Books, 1997.
Stories and essays examining the evolving relationship between humans and nature.
Rogers, Maria M. In Other Words, Oral Histories of the Colorado Frontier. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing, 1995.
Oral accounts from all walks of early Western life, from covered wagons and homesteading to transportation and home remedies of the day.
Children's Books
Murray, Stuart. Wild West. New York: Eyewitness Books; DK Publishing, 2005.
A book for children ages 8 and up, highlighting many aspects of America’s Wild West, including expansion, and the people and culture of the frontier
Time-Life Books. The American Story: Settling the West. United States, 1996.
A children’s book about the history, settlements, conditions and people of the Old West.
Funding for object education resources provided by a grant from the Morgridge Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by the William Randolph Hearst Endowment for Education Programs, and Xcel Energy Foundation. We thank our colleagues at the University of Denver Morgridge College of Education.
The images on this page are intended for classroom use only and may not be reproduced for other reasons without the permission of the Denver Art Museum. This object may not currently be on display at the museum.
