Albert Bierstadt Essay

Author Jerry Frank explains how art not only captures a beautiful scene, but informs the public on what is considered beautiful. “In this light, the paintings of Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, Albert Bierstadt, and others during the nineteenth century provided more than exquisite examples of landscape art. They infused an idealized natural world with the spirit of God, thereby transforming a hectic and dark wilderness of the imagination into places of perceived beauty and reverence. To those fortunate enough to view the works of American masters, landscape painters of the nineteenth century were doing much more than entertaining viewers with striking scenery; they were teaching viewers how to appreciate nature and exactly what sorts of natural

Albert Bierstadt’s work was considered “to capture successfully the wonder and excitement that the artist and other early trailblazers felt when they confronted the spectacular western scenery. His panoramic scenes of the Rockies therefore attracted universal attention in the 1860s…” With the painting that was created in his time at the Rocky Mountains his intentions were to show the public the beauty that rested in the mysterious wilderness. A few years after Bierstadt’s The Rocky Mountain was finished the actual Rocky Mountains were nicknamed the “Future Switzerland of America.” This could be because of the way Bierstadt portrayed the mountain range. The paintings Albert Bierstadt worked on were not the only influence that helped establish the mountain range as a national park; he himself was often sought after for his artistic eye. After finishing his painting of Longs Peak Earl of Dunraven asked Bierstadt to use his skill and trained eye to find a clearing for a hotel to build at Estes Park. Today I believe the hotel is called Dunraven Inn. It did not saying anything about their history, but mostly likely they take advantage of their fulfilling historic story. After the hotel was built very quickly Estes Park opened up the very next