Albert Bierstadt
American, 1830-1902
Sunset on the Hudson, 1870s
oil on paper mounted on masonite
9 3/4 x 8 3/8 in.
SBMA, Bequest of Margaret Mallory
1998.50.12
Photograph of Bierstadt taken at about age 37 by Napoleon Sarony
”The magnificent beauty of the natural world is a manifestation of the mysterious natural laws that will be forever obscured from us.” - Albert Bierstadt
RESEARCH PAPER
Born in Solingen, Rhine Province, Germany in 1830, Bierstadt moved with his family to New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States in 1831 when he was one year old. Very early in his life, Bierstadt displayed an interest in art, drawing crayon sketches. Training in Europe and America, Bierstadt developed a painterly style realistically depicting with almost jewel like precision visions of the American landscape, first in the East and later in the West.
This landscape “Sunset on the Hudson” painted in the 1870’s is a dreamy view of the Hudson, realistic yet not photographic, conveying the beauty of the light and dark. One’s eye is caught by the golden glow of the setting sun and its reflection. This composition provides contrasts to convey space, with the feathery reeds and reflection of the sun in the foreground, muted soft and subtle gray of the distant mountains and gray and white wispy clouds in the middle ground with the background of the sky and its setting sun. In the mid-ground are suggestions of several mountain ranges, each appearing a hazier, paler blue as they recede into the background. The air appears shimmering, broken by scattered light and contrasting clouds. This progression from foreground to background provides drama and romance to this everyday setting.
The picture is cut into thirds with the horizontal line of the mountains echoing the line of the gray cloud above and parallel with the picture plane. The use of parallel lines was characteristic of the Düsseldorf style Bierstadt had studied in Germany. Contrasting with these static lines parallel to the picture plane, is the angled gray cloud, echoed by the angle of the reeds giving movement to the scene.
Use of soft suggestive brush strokes give a dreamy feel connecting Bierstadt to the new and growing influence of Impressionism. This relatively small canvas has a freshness and spontaneity compared to his larger more studied detailed precise works of the West. It may have been a study for other pieces, and reflects his ongoing fascination with light.
Interestingly with his interest in depictions and light Bierstadt encouraged his two photographer older brothers to become expert at stereography, a precursor to 3D. Albert, a good businessman, often chose the sites for the brothers to photo while he searched for sites to paint.
Hudson River painters sometimes took their easels and paints out of doors and this work may have been an example of this ”En Plein Aire” style. As early as the 1830’s, Tomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River school painted a magnificent sweeping panoramic river view with a tiny depiction of himself, the artist, with his easel in the foreground. This vividly illustrated the painting “En pleine aire” and the smallness of man as compared to the enormity of nature.
In the 1800’s many philosophers, artists, writers, scientists and the general public came have a strong interest in nature extolling its magnificence in comparison to the limitations of man. They believed seeing “God in nature” gave meaning and resolved human contradictions. Transcendentalism became popular as a philosophical, spiritual and literary movement in New England popularized by Emerson, Thoreau and others, extolling the glories of nature as Divine.
On Bierstadt’s return to the United States after his German and European art studies, he initially became a part of the second generation of the
Hudson River School in New York, characteristically creating detailed paintings with romantic, almost glowing lighting sometimes called “luminism.”
Later Bierstadt’s expeditions to the “Wild West” inspired him and he became best known for western subjects, landscapes, and Indians gaining great success appealing to growing audience curious about and eager to explore new lands.
In the late 19th century Bierstadt’s style romanticizing the grandeur of American landscapes was derogatorily called “kitsch” (considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality) and his career declined. By the time of his death in 1902, he was relatively obscure.
His landscapes regained favor in the mid-20th century when historians came to appreciate the significance of the paintings as reflecting the philosophy and culture of the time. Bierstadt became one of the most popular and successful artists of his time painting a large number of works, between 500 and 4,000 paintings depending on the source, since many of these works were lost.
Prepared for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Docent Council by Sandra Stingle, 2024.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, Nancy K., Ferber, Linda S. “Albert Bierstadt: Art and Enterprise,” Hudson Hills Press New York, 1991.
Novak, Barbara. “American Painting of the Nineteenth Century.” New York: Prager, 1969.
Novak, Barbara, “Nature and Culture.” New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.