Americans began to crave magnitude from their art. Big paintings, big frames, and even bigger price tags. No one capitalized on the market better than Albert Bierstadt. Bierstadt was born in 1830 and was a German-American painter. Bierstadt was known as the first great landscape painter of the American West (Thomas 2000)[1]. Bierstadt’s painting above, Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, was nine feet long and was considerably larger than competing paintings during the time. This painting was completed in 1868 and now resides in the Smithsonian Art Museum. This painting helps symbolize how the West was depicted during the Gilded age. It was glorified in a heavenly way and these depictions fed of the Eastern allure of the unknown West.
The most impactful aspect of Bierstadt’s career however came not from his paintings, but how they were revealed. He treated a new release as a production and promoted himself heavily. Bierstadt took out advertisements in the paper, and sold tickets to a release to help create demand and anticipation for his work (Thomas 2000)[2]. This promotion led to the prices for his work becoming unattainable by the majority of his fans. Some of his paintings reached the $35,000 price tag. These paintings could only be purchased with the excess wealth that the 1% of the time had.
The painting above is Bierstadt’s most famous work and it captures the landscape that Americans and future Americans were eager to get a look at. The painting was finished in 1868 and there was high demand for this majestic depiction of the nations frontier. William Brown Dinsmore privately purchased the painting in 1873.[3]
The drastic contrast in the work of art shows the mountains as a heavenly spectacle. The landscape in front of it looks almost naturally untouched, a view that seemed to be dreamed up and showed an area that Americans were quickly falling in love with. Bierstadt in fact dreamed up the scene, he painted it in Rome. That did not take away from the fame that this painting received as it contributed to inspiring immigration.
[1] Phillip Drennon Thomas. "Bierstadt, Albert";
http://www.anb.org.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/articles/17/17-00068.html;
American National Biography Online Feb. 2000.
Access Date: Mon Sep 01 2014 15:32:56 GMT-0400 (EDT)
[2] Phillip Drennon Thomas. "Bierstadt, Albert"
[3] Phillip Drennon Thomas. "Bierstadt, Albert”
The most impactful aspect of Bierstadt’s career however came not from his paintings, but how they were revealed. He treated a new release as a production and promoted himself heavily. Bierstadt took out advertisements in the paper, and sold tickets to a release to help create demand and anticipation for his work (Thomas 2000)[2]. This promotion led to the prices for his work becoming unattainable by the majority of his fans. Some of his paintings reached the $35,000 price tag. These paintings could only be purchased with the excess wealth that the 1% of the time had.
The painting above is Bierstadt’s most famous work and it captures the landscape that Americans and future Americans were eager to get a look at. The painting was finished in 1868 and there was high demand for this majestic depiction of the nations frontier. William Brown Dinsmore privately purchased the painting in 1873.[3]
The drastic contrast in the work of art shows the mountains as a heavenly spectacle. The landscape in front of it looks almost naturally untouched, a view that seemed to be dreamed up and showed an area that Americans were quickly falling in love with. Bierstadt in fact dreamed up the scene, he painted it in Rome. That did not take away from the fame that this painting received as it contributed to inspiring immigration.
[1] Phillip Drennon Thomas. "Bierstadt, Albert";
http://www.anb.org.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/articles/17/17-00068.html;
American National Biography Online Feb. 2000.
Access Date: Mon Sep 01 2014 15:32:56 GMT-0400 (EDT)
[2] Phillip Drennon Thomas. "Bierstadt, Albert"
[3] Phillip Drennon Thomas. "Bierstadt, Albert”