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# Among the Sierra Nevada, California

Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery

                    - Share IconShare Icon                       - 
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                      - Print
                      -     DetailsRelatedObject Details- Artist
- Albert Bierstadt, born Solingen, Germany 1830-died New York City 1902
- Gallery Label
- Albert Bierstadt's beautifully crafted paintings played to a hot market in the 1860s for spectacular views of the nation's frontiers. Bierstadt was an immigrant and hardworking entrepreneur who had grown rich pairing his skill as a painter with a talent for self-promotion. He unveiled his canvases as theatrical events, selling tickets and planting news stories—strategies that one critic described as the "vast machinery of advertisement and puffery." A Bierstadt canvas was elaborately framed, installed in a darkened room, and hidden behind luxurious drapes. At the appointed time, the work was revealed to thunderous applause.
- This painting was made in London and toured through Europe to St. Petersburg, fueling Europeans' interest in emigration. Buoyed by glowing reviews, Bierstadt then offered the painting to American audiences who could take pride in an American artist's skill and in the natural splendors of their young nation.
- Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
- Publication Label
- Albert Bierstadt's beautifully crafted paintings played to a market eager, in the 1860s, for spectacular views of the nation's frontier. Bierstadt painted Among the Sierra Nevada, California in his Rome studio. He then showed the canvas in Berlin and London before shipping it to the United States. Works such as this fueled the image of America as a promised land just when Europeans were immigrating to this country in great numbers.
- Smithsonian American Art Museum: Commemorative Guide. Nashville, TN: Beckon Books, 2015.
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Helen Huntington Hull, granddaughter of William Brown Dinsmore, who acquired the painting in 1873 for "The Locusts," the family estate in Dutchess County, New York
- 1868
- Object number
- 1977.107.1
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- overall: 72 x 120 1/8 in. (183 x 305 cm) frame: 96 1/4 x 144 3/8 x 7 1/4 in. (244.5 x 366.7 x 18.4 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, East Wing
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Landscape\California
- Animal\bird\duck
- Landscape\lake
- Animal\deer
- Landscape\waterfall
- Landscape\mountain\Sierra Nevada Mountains
- Record ID
- saam_1977.107.1
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7498df029-5f85-45cd-8d0b-e64e9067f772
Related Content-                    Digital Backgrounds                 
-                    Explore America: California                 
-                    Natural Beauty                 
-                    Open Access Highlights                 
  CC0Creative Commons - No Rights Reserved iconUsage Conditions Apply>download icon>          This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions).  You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian.  For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.        International media Interoperability FrameworkIIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.View manifestView in Mirador ViewerExpand to view image×                             Footer logo      
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