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 :. | Hetch Hetchy Valley | Sunset over the River | The Shore of the Turquoise Sea | San Francisco Bay | New Hampshire |
Related Artists:
Ivan Vishnyakov
1699-1761 Russian Ivan Vishnyakov Gallery Russian painter. He trained at the Admiralty College under Vasily Gruzinets (1667-1739) and in 1727 joined the staff of the Office of Buildings with the rank of apprentice, working for a time under Louis Caravaque (1684-1754). In 1739 he became a Master and head of the Office department of paintings. He contributed to the monumental and decorative works, which he also supervised, in the palaces and churches of St Petersburg and environs, Moscow and Kiev, and in the decoration of triumphal arches in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Jan Josef Horemans the Elder
1682-1759 Dutch Jan Josef Horemans Galleries He was a pupil of the sculptor Michiel van der Voort I and then of the Dutch painter Jan van Pee (before 1640-1710), who was active in Antwerp. Horemans joined the Guild of St Luke in 1706-7. He appears to have followed in the footsteps of the 17th-century Flemish genre painters, executing a few portraits and a large number of small anecdotal pictures that were highly prized on the market. In paintings such as the Village School and the Cobbler's Shop (both 1712; Vienna, Ksthist. Mus.), the Musical Company (1715; Brunswick, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Mus.) and the Card-players (Florence, Uffizi) he represented scenes from contemporary everyday life that combine observation with a certain degree of stiffness. Most of his paintings are signed. In 1746, together with his son Jan Josef Horemans II, he painted the Abbot of St Michel Visiting the Order of the Fencing Oath (Antwerp, Kon. Mus. S. Kst.).
Robert Gabriel Gence
Paris vers 1670- Bayonne 1728