Albert Bierstadt

American, 1830 - 1902

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American painter (1830–1902)

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Albert Bierstadt, Boussod et Valadon, The Last of the Buffalo, 1891, photogravure in black with chine collé on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the Women's Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art), 2015.19.3216

The Last of the Buffalo

Albert Bierstadt, Boussod et Valadon · 1891 · photogravure in black with chine collé on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.3216

A band of indigenous Americans ride horses toward and through a herd of buffalo, which spreads along a river that winds through plains to mountains in the deep distance in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is lit with golden light that warms the browns and harvest yellow of the landscape. Several dead or injured buffalo lie across the ground close to us, along with the body of one hunter, barely visible between the bodies of two animals. Just beyond the corpses, one hunter rides a rearing white horse as he lifts a spear lined with feathers high over a charging buffalo to our right of center. Facing away from us, the rider has light brown skin and a feather headdress over long dark hair. He wears a pumpkin-orange loincloth and red and orange bands encircle the ankle, thigh, wrist, and upper arm facing us. Sage-green grass grows in tufts on the dirt ground, which is littered with several animal skulls around the charging buffalo and rider. A smaller buffalo looks on from our left, and a prairie dog pokes its head out of hole in the ground in the lower left corner. A little distance away to our right, along the edge of the canvas, seven hunters gallop into the scene, leaning forward over their horses’ necks. The dozen or so buffalo nearby, as well as a fox and two deer, move away from the hunters, headed to our left. Hundreds of buffalo dot the landscape along the banks of the winding river and some wade in the water. A few trees rise on the plain but the land is mostly flat until it reaches the mountains and cliffs along the horizon, which comes halfway up this composition. Forms along the horizon could be a line of clouds or snow-covered moutains in the deep distance. A few wispy white clouds float across the watery blue sky above. The artist signed the work in the lower right corner: “Albert Bierstadt.”
Albert Bierstadt, The Last of the Buffalo, 1888-1889, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of Mary Stewart Bierstadt [Mrs. Albert Bierstadt]), 2014.79.5

The Last of the Buffalo

Albert Bierstadt · 1888-1889 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.79.5

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Horse Study for "The Last of the Buffalo"

Albert Bierstadt · c. 1888 · oil on paper ·  Accession ID  2014.136.156

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Figure Study for "The Last of the Buffalo"

Albert Bierstadt · 1888 · oil on paper ·  Accession ID  2014.136.154

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Figure Study for "The Last of the Buffalo"

Albert Bierstadt · c. 1888 · oil on paper ·  Accession ID  2014.136.155

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Landscape

Albert Bierstadt · 1881 · graphite on two sheets of wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.5299.53

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Waterfall

Albert Bierstadt · 1881 · graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.5298.15

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Fisherman on the Lake

Albert Bierstadt · 1881 · graphite on two sheets of wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.5298.25

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Boat on the Shore, with Figure Studies

Albert Bierstadt · 1881 · graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.5299.60

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Geyser

Albert Bierstadt · 1881 · graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.5299.15

Bibliography

1973

  • Hendricks, Gordon. Albert Bierstadt: Painter of the American West. New York, 1973.

1981

  • Baigell, Matthew. Albert Bierstadt. New York, 1981.

1991

  • Anderson, Nancy K., and Linda S. Ferber. Albert Bierstadt: Art & Enterprise. Exh. cat. The Brooklyn Museum, 1990.

1996

  • Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 31-33.