German-born American Hudson River School Painter, 1830-1902 Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany. His family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1833. He studied painting with the members of the D??sseldorf School in D??sseldorf, Germany from 1853 to 1857. He taught drawing and painting briefly before devoting himself to painting. Bierstadt began making paintings in New England and upstate New York. In 1859, he traveled westward in the company of a Land Surveyor for the U.S. government, returning with sketches that would result in numerous finished paintings. In 1863 he returned west again, in the company of the author Fitz Hugh Ludlow, whose wife he would later marry. He continued to visit the American West throughout his career. Though his paintings sold for princely sums, Bierstadt was not held in particularly high esteem by critics of his day. His use of uncommonly large canvases was thought to be an egotistical indulgence, as his paintings would invariably dwarf those of his contemporaries when they were displayed together. The romanticism evident in his choices of subject and in his use of light was felt to be excessive by contemporary critics. His paintings emphasized atmospheric elements like fog, clouds and mist to accentuate and complement the feel of his work. Bierstadt sometimes changed details of the landscape to inspire awe. The colors he used are also not always true. He painted what he believed is the way things should be: water is ultramarine, vegetation is lush and green, etc. The shift from foreground to background was very dramatic and there was almost no middle distance Nonetheless, his paintings remain popular. He was a prolific artist, having completed over 500 (possibly as many as 4000) paintings during his lifetime, most of which have survived. Many are scattered through museums around the United States. Prints are available commercially for many. Original paintings themselves do occasionally come up for sale, at ever increasing prices.  Related Paintings of Albert Bierstadt :. | Figures_in_a_Hudson_River_Landscape | Canadian_Rockies_Asulkan_Glacier | A River Estuary, | A Storm in t he Rocky Mountains,Mt,Rosalie | The Wetterhorn |
Related Artists:
impressionist painter
1882-1885
Aert van der Neer
1603-1677 Dutch Although generally known by the name of Aert, he usually signed himself Aernout. According to Houbraken, van der Neer spent his youth in Arkel near Gorinchem (Gorkum), a town on the river Waal, east of Dordrecht, where he worked as a majoor (steward) for the lords of Arkel. He became an amateur painter, possibly as a result of his contact with the Camphuyzen brothers Rafael Govertsz. (1597/8-1657) and Jochem Govertsz. (1601/2-59). Aert married Lysbeth Govertsdr (Liedtke) who was almost certainly Rafael and Jochem sister. Rafael acted as witness at the baptism of their daughter Cornelia in 1642. Around 1632 van der Neer and his wife moved to Amsterdam where, in about 1634, their eldest son, Eglon, was born.
Nils Schillmark
Nils Schillmark (1745-1804)Aliases: Nils Schillmarch; Nils Schillmarck; Nils SkiellmarkProfessions: Portrait painter; Landscape painter; Painter. (b Skellefteå, northern Sweden, 1745; d 1804). Finnish painter of Swedish birth. The son of a crofter, he was apprenticed in Stockholm to Pehr Fjellström, an artist and military officer. It is possible that Schillmark also studied at the Swedish Royal Academy of Art. He accompanied Fjellström on journeys to Finland and eventually moved there in 1773, first staying in Viaborg, the fortress situated off the shore near Helsinki, and later moving to the mainland and settling in Helsinki. In 1777 he began to receive commissions for portraits, and from then on he spent most of his life as a travelling portrait painter. His sitters came from both the bourgeoisie and the landed gentry, but they were widely spread across southern and western Finland. Occasionally Schillmark also received other kinds of commissions, for example for an altarpiece for the old stone church in Hattula (in situ). From 1787 Schillmark lived permanently in the town of Loviisa, but he continued to tour the estates of the neighbouring countryside. His only landscape paintings to have been preserved are from this year and show the town of Heinola and its new residence for the governor of the Uusimaa and Häme districts. A few years later Schillmark produced a number of still-life paintings for this building. It is possible that he spent some time in Stockholm during this period.