Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830-1902). Mount Rainier. Oil on paper mounted on Masonite. 7-3/4 x 9-5/8 inches (19.7 x 24...

Description

Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830-1902)
Mount Rainier
Oil on paper mounted on Masonite
7-3/4 x 9-5/8 inches (19.7 x 24.4 cm)
Signed lower right: ABierstadt
Inscribed on the reverse, not in the artist's hand: B22 [circled] A102200 (31) / Bierstadt, A / MT. IN SEA / W12862 / 7 ½ x 9 ½ OXX
Paperboard backing that covers Masonite, Kennedy Galleries, Inc. label: 84380/2 / Mt. Hood. / by / Albert Bierstadt

PROVENANCE:
Kennedy Galleries, Inc,. New York;
Tremont Auctions, Sudbury, Massachusetts, November 15, 2015, lot 127;
Private collection, Chicago, Illinois, acquired from the above.

Mount Rainier is included in the Albert Bierstadt database being compiled by Melissa Webster Speidel in preparation for a catalogue raisonné of the artist's paintings. The present work is accompanied by her letter dated October 4, 2022. In this letter, Ms. Speidel writes:

"Mount Rainier depicts one of the stratovolcanoes in the Cascade Range in the Northwest. The 'sea' referred to in the alternative title, Mountain in Sea, is probably fog or low clouds rather than a body of water. Typically, in his oil sketches, an element in the composition would be more specific while the rest of scene would be filled in quickly with loose brushwork. Here the focus is on the mountain itself, covered by recent snowfall, and generalized brushwork describes the sky and foreground. Bierstadt would refer to his sketches when back in his studio making finished oil paintings.

"The volcanic peaks of the Cascade Range are impressive, breath-taking mountains. Bierstadt visited the area at least three times during his artistic career to capture their beauty. Mount Rainier probably dates to the artist's 1889 trip to Alaska and the Northwest. Although a Kennedy Galleries label on a backing that covers the Masonite gives the title as Mt. Hood, I consulted experts on the region and, with the flat mountain top and the small peak on the right, they identified the peak as Mount Rainier. In October, 1889, the artist was in Tacoma, Washington, where he made sketches of Mount Rainier (called Mount Tacoma during the artist's time). The smaller peak to the right is Little Tahoma Peak and is on the eastern side of Mount Rainier. The view is taken from the south of the volcano looking northward.

"Mount Rainier is 14,411 feet tall. It is the tallest peak in the Cascade Range and the tallest singular peak in the lower 48 states. Its silhouette looms over the Seattle and Tacoma landscape and it is easy to see why Bierstadt would have been drawn to its beauty."


More information about Albert Bierstadt. See also: Bierstadt, Albert Artist.



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