Comparison: Albert Bierstadt And The White Mountains

In “Albert Bierstadt and the White Mountains”, The White Mountains played a greater part in the formation of Bierstadt's art than is usually assumed, and his curiosity about nature continued for much of his life. Also during this time, Bierstadt’s art was also influenced throughout his life by his interest in photography, which was initiated by his partnership with Peter Fales during their time on expeditions.
On Bierstadt’s first Western trip, from April to November of 1859, Bierstadt accompanied Col. Frederick W. Lander, who was leading a U.S. government expedition to explore the Overland Trail with the idea to improving the passage to the West through the Rocky Mountains. In Col. Lander's official report, the group of artists that accompanied them consisted of Bierstadt's two older brothers, Charles and Edward, and Francis Shedd Frost. Although Edward and Charles left the expedition after reaching the Prairie States, Albert and Frost continued with the expedition as far as the Wasatch Mountains. The inventions of photography, with its limited ability at this time, to reproduce exactly, within minutes, a given scene or portrait, was of extreme importance …show more content…
Bierstadt was motivated to paint his “Great Pictures” by his overwhelming feelings to preserve the natural environment, although he never made any accurate portrayals of the land. Bierstadt created his images from composite information, which provides viewers with an artistic interpretation of the environment rather than actual depictions of a place. Although Bierstadt’s paintings were not actually real places, Bierstadt paintings still managed to yield surprising results such as when Congress created our National Parks, in response to Bierstadt's paintings which created a growing concern for the environment in most