Albert Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) was a German-American painter celebrated for his monumental landscapes of the American West. Known for his sweeping compositions, dramatic lighting, and meticulous detail, Bierstadt brought the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, Yosemite Valley, and other wilderness regions to life with a romantic, almost cinematic vision. A leading figure of the Hudson River School and the Rocky Mountain School, he combined accurate topographical observation with an idealized sense of nature’s majesty. Born in Solingen, Germany, Bierstadt immigrated to the United States with his family as a child and grew up in Massachusetts. He studied in Düsseldorf, Germany, before embarking on expeditions to the American frontier with survey teams and explorers. In 1866, he married Rosalie Osborne Ludlow, and the couple lived between New York and their estate on the Hudson River. Bierstadt painted prolifically until his death in 1902, leaving an enduring legacy in American landscape art.