German-born American Hudson River School Painter, 1830-1902 Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany. His family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1833. He studied painting with the members of the D??sseldorf School in D??sseldorf, Germany from 1853 to 1857. He taught drawing and painting briefly before devoting himself to painting. Bierstadt began making paintings in New England and upstate New York. In 1859, he traveled westward in the company of a Land Surveyor for the U.S. government, returning with sketches that would result in numerous finished paintings. In 1863 he returned west again, in the company of the author Fitz Hugh Ludlow, whose wife he would later marry. He continued to visit the American West throughout his career. 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 is the way things should be: water is ultramarine, vegetation is lush and green, etc. The shift from foreground to background was very dramatic and there was almost no middle distance Nonetheless, his paintings remain popular. He was a prolific artist, having completed over 500 (possibly as many as 4000) paintings during his lifetime, most of which have survived. Many are scattered through museums around the United States. Prints are available commercially for many. Original paintings themselves do occasionally come up for sale, at ever increasing prices.  Related Paintings of Albert Bierstadt :. | Indians Travelling near Fort Laramie | Yosemite Valley, California | Italian Lake Scene | Landscape, Rockland County, California | Newbraska Wasatch Mountains |
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Rodrigo de Villandrando
Rodrigo de Villandrando (1588 - December 1623) was a court painter during the reign of Philip III of Spain. He worked in the tradition of Alonso Senchez Coello and Juan Pantoja de la Cruz. His death opened the road to court for the young painter Diego Velezquez from Sevilla.
Abraham Wuchters
Abraham Wuchters (1608 - 23 May 1682) was a Dutch-Danish painter and engraver. He was born in Antwerp but had most of his career in Denmark where he, along with Karel van Mander III, was the preferred painter of the Danish King, nobility and Bourgeoisie during his day, together they represent the main influence from the Dutch Golden Age on Danish Baroque art. Wuchters was born in Antwerp in 1608. He arrived in Denmark in 1638 and was, the following year, employed as sketching master at Sorø Academy. Around the same time, he was summoned to Copenhagen where he painted several portraits of King Christian IV. In 1645 he returned to Copenhagen Castle to portray the King's children, including lrik Christian Gyldenløve (c. 1645, Danish National Gallery) and Duke Frederik (III) (c. 1645, Amalienborg Palace). In two periods, between 1658 and 1662, he worked at the Royal Swedish Court in Stockholm where he portrayed Queen Consort Christina (1660, Uppsala University and 1661, Stockholm Castle), Charles X Gustav and Hedvig Eleonora. Back in Denmark, Wuchters was engaged by Frederick III, who had instituted Denmark as an absolute monarchy in 1660, with responsibility for the maintenance of his paintings. n 1671 the new king, Christian V, appointed him as official Painter to the Danish Coirt and in 1873 he was also made official Engraver to the Danish Court. It was, therefore, he alone who decided how the face of the absolutist King was to be represented.
elias martin, gustav
Elias Martin, döpt 8 mars 1739 i Stockholm, död 25 januari 1818, svensk målare som vann internationell berömmelse under sin livstid för sina landskapsmålningar, porträtt och genremålningar, och var "associate member" av Royal Academy. Elias Martin var son till åldermannen i snickarämbetet Olof Martin och Ulrika Haupt, syster till Georg Haupt. Han fick sin första utbildning hos fadern och visade sådan talang att han sändes till ämbetsmålaren F.C. Schultz. Genom denne fick han anställning hos Fredrik Henrik af Chapman som arkitekturritare och teckningslärare för officerarna i Sveaborg. Där fick han ledning av fältmarskalken Augustin Ehrensvärd, och umgick med och undervisade dennes son Carl August Ehrensvärd.