Art-Bierstadt-Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains TB

Please drop this item in rural or Premium Member Only caches.  Do not drop it in an urban cache or leave it behind at a caching event.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; this prevents the chain and tag tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take this travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission needed to leave the U.S.

This is one of a series of travel bugs made to recognize paintings seen, and admired by the bug owner. A digital copy of this painting was downloaded from the internet. The copy was reduced in size and proportions cropped to accommodate the laminating materials available to the owner. Regrettably these processes diminish the effort of the artist. One truly must see the original in person to fully appreciate the work. The text below is a mixture of my own observations and material gleaned from the internet (mostly Wikipedia and Web Gallery).

Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West.  In obtaining the subject matter for these works, Bierstadt joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion. Though not the first artist to record these sites, Bierstadt was the foremost painter of these scenes for the remainder of the 19th century.
 
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 was the way things should be.  This painting, Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, was seen at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.  It is not of a specific location, but rather seems to combine elements of his Lake Tahoe and Mount Corcoran paintings.