Tip: move over the painting to use the lens.

Mountain Brook

Artist: Albert Bierstadt (American, born Solingen, Prussia, now Germany, 1830–1902)
Date: 1863
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 111.8 × 91.4 cm (44 × 36 in.)
Made in: United States
Where to see it: Art Institute of Chicago

Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Herbert A. Vance; fund of an anonymous donor; Wesley M. Dixon Jr. Fund and Endowment; Henry Horner Straus and Mr. and Mrs. Frederick G. Wacker Jr. endowment funds; through prior acquisitions of various donors, including Samuel P. Avery Endowment, Mrs. George A. Carpenter, Frederick S. Colburn, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Feinberg, Field Museum of Natural History, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Harding, International Minerals and Chemicals Corp., Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Loeff, Mrs. Frank C. Miller, Mahlan D. Moulds, Mrs. Clive Runnells, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Stone, and the Charles H. and Mary F.S. Worcester Collection · CC0 Public Domain · Art Institute of Chicago · image via Wikimedia Commons · see it at the museum ↗

Notes from the museum

Albert Bierstadt is best remembered for his paintings of the American West, but during his early career, the ambitious artist also created New England landscapes, particularly of the White Mountains, as seen here. When this painting was first exhibited in 1863, critics declared it Bierstadt’s “best work” and praised the artist’s deft contrast of “light and shade,” which brought a heightened realism to the image. Bierstadt’s affinity for the White Mountains mirrored a growing interest in the region as one of America’s premier tourist attractions. Photographs of the area from the 19th century suggest that Bierstadt utilized landscape elements from the Flume, a popular New Hampshire tourist site, in this imaginary composition.

Text: Art Institute of Chicago (open access). Our full story for this work is coming soon.