Albert Bierstadt 1830 - 1902

Vose Galleries, Boston
Menconi & Schoelkopf Fine Art, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2001

This work is in very good condition. The canvas is strip-lined. Under UV: there is no apparent inpainting.
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A Western Waterfall is an invigorating example of the atmospheric landscapes that earned Albert Bierstadt his reputation as one of America’s most distinguished artists of the mid-19th century. Inspired by the unspoiled wilderness he encountered in the West, Bierstadt set out to record the landscape for posterity, focusing on the natural wonders of the largely unexplored and undocumented territories of Yosemite, the High Sierras, and Yellowstone.

Similar to some of the compositions he produced in the Yosemite Valley, the view in Western Waterfall features a cascading waterfall framed by steep mountainsides and distant snow-capped peaks. Compositionally, the soaring cliffs, trees, and falls emphasize the dramatic verticality and extraordinary scale of this environment and impart a true sense of adventure and exploration. Bierstadt’s idealized treatment of his subject speaks to his deep personal connection with and fervent passion for the geological marvels he encountered during his western travels.

As Gordon Hendricks writes, Bierstadt’s best paintings “envelop us with the beauty of nature, its sunlight, its greenness, its mists, its subtle shades, its marvelous freshness. When [Bierstadt] succeeded in what he was trying to do to pass along some of his own passion for the wilderness and beauty of the new West he was as good as any landscapist in the history of American Art” (Albert Bierstadt, Painter of the American West, New York, 1971, p. 10).