Mount Hood by Albert Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt 1830-1902 | German-American Mount Hood Signed "A Bierstadt" (lower right) Oil on paper laid on canvas laid on masonite Bierstadt is widely regarded as one of the greatest American landscape painters, employing monumental scale, dramatic illumination and atmospheric effects to communicate the grandeur of the American West. His romanticized landscapes helped shape the nation’s perception of the West, presenting its wilderness as a vast and almost paradisiacal frontier. Mount Hood is a particularly evocative expression of this vision, combining topographical specificity with the heightened light and atmosphere that became hallmarks of his celebrated landscapes. Painted circa 1889, Mount Hood exemplifies Albert Bierstadt’s masterful command of light and his ability to transform the American wilderness into an idealized vision of sublime beauty. Mount Hood was among Bierstadt’s favored subjects, and this composition depicts the iconic peak from Hood River, Oregon, looking north along the Columbia River, with the Sandy Glacier Headwall visible beneath the summit. Warm, atmospheric light bathes the scene, emphasizing the vastness and majesty of the landscape. At more than 11,200 feet, Mount Hood is Oregon’s highest point and had already captured the attention of American explorers when Lewis and Clark encountered its snow-covered peak in 1805. Born in Solingen, Germany, in 1830, Bierstadt emigrated with his family to New Bedford, Massachusetts, at the age of two. By 1850, he was already offering painting instruction in New Bedford, Newport and Boston. He returned to Germany in 1853 to study at Düsseldorf, and after several years of training in landscape, genre and history painting, toured Europe before returning to the United States in 1857. His position as America’s leading landscape painter was firmly established following his Western expeditions, which provided material for his most acclaimed compositions. His 1863 journey through California and Oregon provided important source material for his views of the Pacific Northwest, part of a body of work that introduced American audiences to the grandeur of the West. His work earned international recognition, including representation in the U.S. Capitol. Elected a full Academician of the National Academy of Design in 1860, Bierstadt continued producing landscapes throughout his career. His works are represented in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with comparable Mount Hood compositions held by the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles and the Portland Museum of Art. Circa 1889 Canvas: 13 1/4" high x 18 1/4" wide (33.66 x 44.36 cm) Frame: 26" high x 31" wide x 3 3/4" deep (66.04 x 78.74 x 9.53 cm) Provenance: Private collection, Tennessee Private collection, United States M.S. Rau, New Orleans Literature: This work will be included in the forthcoming Albert Bierstadt Catalogue Raisonné, by Melissa Speidel