Rocky Mountain Landscape

When Albert Bierstadt painted Rocky Mountain Landscape in 1870, he had not seen the Rockies for seven years. He worked from studies made in 1863, during his second trip to the West. He had recently returned from a triumphal two-year tour of Europe; the following year he would go west again.



We dare not move lest we lose the waking dream. No humans are present except ourselves; we have stumbled upon a hidden valley. The disposition of light and shadow furthers this illusion. Around a core of light the artist has wrapped a dark cloak, sealing off this extraordinary place from the civilized world.



Rocky Mountain Landscape

Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902)

Signed and dated lower right A Bierstadt / 70 [AB in monogram]

Oil on canvas, 36 5/8 x 54 3/4 inches (93 x 139.1 cm)

Gift of The Barra Foundation, Inc., 1981