Seal Rock - Albert Bierstadt - Framed art Print

Born in Solingen, Prussia in 1830, Albert Bierstadt was an artist who achieved fame after relocating to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Seeking formal education in Europe, he instead found American mentors, Emanuel Leutze and Worthington Whittredge. Following extensive European travels, Bierstadt returned to the US, debuting in New York in 1858 with a painting of Lake Lucerne that garnered significant acclaim.

Bierstadt's European experience proved invaluable when he joined Frederick W. Lander's survey expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1859. As the first skilled artist to paint the Rockies, Bierstadt gained renown for his western landscapes. Throughout the 1860s, he produced a remarkable series of large-scale paintings capturing the beauty of the American West.

In 1867, accompanied by his wife, Bierstadt journeyed to London, exhibiting his work before Queen Victoria and establishing a European market for his paintings. Returning to the US in 1871, he continued to create studio paintings based on field studies, although his later work received mixed reviews.

Amidst critical disfavor and a declining market, Bierstadt's career declined, and he died in 1902. Nevertheless, his legacy experienced a resurgence in the 1960s with exhibitions focusing on the smaller oil sketches that inspired his grand landscapes.