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 :. | Lake in the Rockies | Gates of the Yosemite | Estes Park | Autumn Woods | Cathedral Rocks, Yosemite Valley |
Related Artists:
BERCKHEYDE, Gerrit Adriaensz.
Dutch Baroque Era Painter, 1638-1698 Brother of Job Berckheyde. Gerrit specialized in a particular type of architectural subject, the TOWNSCAPE. His painted work shows a debt not only to Pieter Saenredam's conception of the building portrait but also to Saenredam's refined draughtsmanship and dispassionate attitude; these qualities mark Berckheyde as a classicist and akin to Vermeer. Berckheyde favoured views of monuments on large open squares, a choice that distinguishes him from the other great Dutch townscape painter, Jan van der Heyden, who preferred views along canals in which clarity was sacrificed for pictorial effect.
Konstantin Korovin
1861-1932 Russian Konstantin Korovin Galleries Konstantin was born in Moscow to a merchant family officially registered as peasants of Vladimir gubernia. His father, Aleksey Mikhailovich Korovin, earned a University degree and was more interested in arts and music than in the family business established by Konstantin's grandfather. Konstantin's older brother Sergey Korovin was a notable realist painter. Konstantin's relative Illarion Pryanishnikov was also a prominent painter of the time and a teacher at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. In 1875 Konstantin entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpturing and Architecture, where he learned from Vasily Perov and Alexei Savrasov. His brother, Sergey was already a student of the School. During their scholar years Korovins became friends with their fellow students Valentin Serov and Isaac Levitan, Kontantin kept these friendship through the whole of his life. In 1881-1882, Korovin spent a year at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, but returned disappointed to the Moscow School of painting, sculpturing and architecture. He studied at the school under the new teacher Vasily Polenov until 1886. In 1885, Korovin made traveled to Paris and Spain. Paris was a shock for me?? Impressionists?? in them I found everything for what I was scolded back at home, in Moscow, he later wrote. Korovin. On the balcony, Spanish women Leonora and Ampara. 1897-1898.Polenov introduced Korovin to Savva Mamontov's Abramtsevo circle: Viktor Vasnetsov, Apollinary Vasnetsov, Ilya Repin, Mark Antokolsky and others. The Abramtsevo circle's love for stilized Russian themes is reflected in Korovin's picture A Northern Idyll. In 1885 Korovin works for Mamontov's Opera house. He designed the stage decor for Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, L??o Delibes' Lakme and Georges Bizet's Carmen. St. Triphon's Brook in Pechenga. 1894.In 1888, Korovin traveled with Mamontov to Italy and Spain, where he produced painting On the balcony, Spanish women Leonora and Ampara. Konstantin traveled within Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia, exhibited with Peredvizhniki. He was painting in the Impressionist and later in the Art Nouveau style. In the 1890s, Korovin became a member of the Mir iskusstva art group. Korovin's subsequent works was strongly influenced by his travel to the North. In 1888 he was captivated by the stern northern landscapes, as seen in The Coast of Norway and The Northern Sea. His second trip to the North, with Valentin Serov in 1894, coincided with the construction of the Northern Railway. Korovin painted a large number of landscapes: Norwegian Port, Saint Trifon's Brook in Pechenega, Hammerfest: Aurora Borealis, The Coast at Murmansk and others. The paintings are built on a delicate web of shades of grey. The etude style of these works was typical for the Korovin's art of the 1890s. Using material from his northern trip, Korovin designed the Northern Railway pavilion at the All Russia Exhibition of 1896 at Nizhny Novgorod. In 1900, Korovin designed the Central Asia section of the Russian Empire pavilion on the Paris World Fair; and was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government. Spring, 1917In the beginning of the 20th century Korovin focused his attention on the theatre. He moved from Mamontov's opera to Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. Departing from the tradition of the stage decor, which only indicated the place of action, Korovin produced a mood decor, which conveyed the general emotions of the performance. Korovin designed sets for Constantin Stanislavski's dramatic productions, as well as Mariinsky's operas and ballets. He did the stage design for such Mariinsky's productions as Faust (1899), The Little Humpbacked Horse (1901) and Sadko (1906) that became famous for their expressiveness. Pier in Gurzuf, 1914In 1905, Korovin became an Academician of Painting, and in 1909-1913 he was a professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. One of the artist's favourite themes was Paris. He painted A Paris Cafe (1890s'), Cafe de la Paix (1905'), La Place de la Bastille (1906), Paris at Night; Le Boulevard Italien (1908'), Night Carnival (1901), Paris in the Evening (1907) and others. During the World War I Korovin worked as a camouflage consultant at the headquarters of one of the Russian armies and was often seen at the front line. After the October Revolution Korovin continued to work in the theatre, designing stage for Richard Wagner's Die Walk??re and Siegfried as well as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker (1918-1920). In 1923 Korovin moved to Paris by the advice of the Commissar of Enlightenment, Anatoliy Vasilievich Lunacharsky, to cure his heart condition and help Korovin's handicapped son. There was supposed to be a large exhibition of Korovin's works but the works were stolen and Korovin was left penniless. For years he produced the numerous Russian winters and Paris boulevards just to make ends meet. In the last years of his life he produced stage designs for many of the major theatres of Europe, America, Asia and Australia, the most famous of which is his scenery for a production by the Turin Opera House of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel. Korovin died in Paris on September 11, 1939. Konstantin's son Alexey Korovin (1897-1950) was a notable Russian-French painter. Because of an accident during his childhood he had both feet amputated. Alexey committed suicide in 1950.
Charles W. Bartlett
(born 1 June 1860 in Bridport, Dorset) was an English painter and printmaker. He studied metallurgy and worked in that field for several years. At age 23, he enrolled in the Royal Academy in London, where he studied painting and etching. After three years of study in London, he entered the private studio school Academie Julian in Paris, where he studied under Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1836-1911) and Gustave Boulanger (1824-1888). In 1889, he returned to England and married Emily Tate, but shortly thereafter, his wife and infant son died in childbirth. Bartlett then traveled to Europe, spending several productive years in Holland, Brittany and Venice with his friend and fellow artist Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956). Brangwyn is believed to have introduced Bartlett to Japanese prints. Bartlett produced some of his most important early works on the Continent, especially studies of peasants painted in broad areas of color. He was invited to join the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts in France in 1897. In 1898, he returned to England and married Catherine Kate Main.