Mountain Brook - Albert Bierstadt

Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Herbert A. Vance; fund of an anonymous donor; Wesley M. Dixon Jr. Fund and Endowment; Henry Horner Straus and Mr. and Mrs. Frederick G. Wacker Jr. endowment funds; through prior acquisitions of various donors, including Samuel P. Avery Endowment, Mrs. George A. Carpenter, Frederick S. Colburn, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Feinberg, Field Museum of Natural History, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Harding, International Minerals and Chemicals Corp., Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Loeff, Mrs. Frank C. Miller, Mahlan D. Moulds, Mrs. Clive Runnells, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Stone, and the Charles H. and Mary F.S. Worcester Collection

American Art Modern Art Paintings

"Mountain Brook" by Albert Bierstadt (1863) Oil on canvas.

Commentary

"Mountain Brook" by Albert Bierstadt (1863) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Its painted surface guides your eye through color, brushwork, and contrast rather than through narrative alone. Themes to notice include painting. This piece is held in the source collection's Arts of the Americas collection. Albert Bierstadt is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Albert Bierstadt (American, born Solingen, Prussia, now Germany, 1830–1902). The work is cataloged within a United States cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as painting, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Oil on canvas) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (111.8 × 91.4 cm (44 × 36 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include painting. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/146701

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data