Study of a Tree
ca. 1864
Medium
Oil on paper mounted on board
Dimensions
9 1/4 x 7 7/8 in. (23.5 x 20 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Glickman, 1976
Accession Number
1976.337
Tags
Art Historical Context
Albert Bierstadt's *Study of a Tree* (ca. 1864) captures the artist's keen eye for nature's intricate details during a pivotal era in American art. As a leading figure in the Hudson River School, Bier was renowned for his luminous, romantic landscapes that the grandeur of the American. This modest oil sketch, created amid his expeditions to document the Rockies and Yosemite, reflects the mid-19th-century fascination with Manifest Destiny and the sublime power of wilderness. Trees, often symbolic of enduring strength in his oeuvre, anchor many of his epic canvases, making this study a window in...
About the Artist
Albert Bierstadt · 1830–1902
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) was a German-American landscape painter renowned for his monumental, luminous depictions of the American West. As a prominent member of the second generation of the Hudson River School and the Rocky Mountain School, Bierstadt created sweeping panoramas that captured the sublime grandeur of untamed wilderness with unprecedented theatrical scale and romantic vision. His ...