The Oxbow and Lander’s Peak

American Western Landscapes

Thomas Cole Albert Bierstadt

Thomas Cole(1801-1848)• English-American Artist

• Known for his realistic and detailed portrayal of the American landscape and wilderness

• Founder of the Hudson River School

Cole is credited with founding the Hudson River School, an American art movement of landscape painters in the mid 19th century. Paintings from this group often show human beings and nature coexisting in an idyllic way. Hudson River School landscapes are characterized by their realistic, detailed, and idealized portrayal of people and agriculture juxtaposed against the wilderness.

Albert Bierstadt1830-1902• German-American artist best known for painting lush, sweeping landscapes

• Known as a Luminist, a group of artists who use light in their paintings to draw interest

• Member of the Hudson River School

• Used uncommonly large canvases

Bierstadt painted landscapes from magnificent scenes in Yosemite, California and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. When people saw his paintings, they wanted to go there and see the land for themselves.

Compare and ContrastWhat first catches your eye?How did each artist convey the scale of the scene?How did each artist represent themselves in the scene? Why?Compare the right and left side of each painting. What do you see? What do you think the artist was trying to communicate by contrasting the right and left side?