Albert BierstadtStati Uniti, 1830–1902The Merced River in Yosemite
Si può vedere?
Sì, esposta ora
Dove si trova «The Merced River in Yosemite» oggi? Minneapolis Institute of Art, G323, Minneapolis. Sì, esposta ora. Verificato 29 settembre 2026.
Minneapolis, Stati Uniti
Chiuso· apre mar alle 10:00
Esposta al pubblico.
- Verificato
- Ultimo cambio di stato
- Fonte
- Il museo
Sul dipinto
Albert Bierstadt was one of the first landscape painters to portray the Yosemite Valley of central California. He spent seven weeks in Yosemite during the summer of 1863, and he described it as “the most magnificent place I was ever in.” In this work, Bierstadt portrays an imagined journey through the valley. In the lower left, three men relax around a campfire while their companion attempts to catch dinner. Brilliant evening light shines from the hill above, giving the scene an almost otherworldly glow.
Leggi
Bierstadt’s painting is peaceful and inviting, yet it portrays a region that was undergoing immense turmoil. During the 1850s, state and federal forces violently displaced many of Yosemite’s longstanding inhabitants, the Ahwahnechee people. Over the next several decades, the Ahwahnechee lobbied for the right to remain in their ancestral homelands, but Bierstadt chose not to include them in his paintings of Yosemite.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Scheda
- Numero di inventario
- 81.6
In catalogo
Fonti
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Immagine: Minneapolis Institute of Art — public domain
Nella vita di Albert Bierstadt
Tutta la vita1867
Shows his landscapes to Queen Victoria in London
Back in Europe, Bierstadt began in London, where he showed two of his landscapes to Queen Victoria at a private reception.
1867–1869
Two years in Europe: pictures, contacts, publicity
For two years Bierstadt travelled around Europe, painting new works and cultivating social and business contacts to sustain the market for his art on the continent. He matched grand subjects with entrepreneurial flair: his one-picture exhibitions came with promotion and ticket sales — 'a vast machinery of advertisement and puffery', in one critic's words.
1868
The Yosemite pictures bring invitations to expeditions
The publicity around his Yosemite Valley paintings led a number of explorers to ask Bierstadt to join their westward expeditions. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad commissioned him to visit and paint the Grand Canyon and the surrounding region.
