German-born painter Albert Bierstadt is best known for his lavish landscapes of the American West. While not the first artist to capture the sites, he remained a dominant western landscape painter for the rest of the 19th century. Here are some of his most popular works. This is just a small selection of his many paintings.
Born in Germany, Albert Bierstadt spent his childhood in New Bedford, Massachusetts. After studying art in Europe, he traveled to Italy and Germany. In 1859, he traveled to Wyoming, where he painted the first rendition of Yosemite Valley. This painting now resides in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Although the artist died at the age of forty-five, his paintings continue to be collected and exhibited around the world today.
