View of Mount Baker (from Sketchbook)

Art Historical Context

Albert Bierstadt's *View of Mount Baker ( Sketchbook)*, created in 1890, the majestic form of the volcanic peak in Washington's Cascade Range through a quick, on-site graphite sketch. At just 4 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches, this intimate drawing on wove paper reveals the artist's portable fieldwork during his later years, a time when he continued exploring America's dramatic landscapes despite changing tastes in art. As a leading figure in the Hudson River School, Bierstadt was renowned for his grand, luminous oil paintings that romanticized the American West, evoking national pride during westward expansion. This sketch offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at his process: rapid pencil strokes build form and texture, distilling the mountain's rugged contours and hazy atmosphere into essential lines—preparatory work often leading to monumental canvases that celebrated the sublime power of nature. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, this piece underscores Bierstadt's enduring commitment to capturing the untamed beauty of the continent, bridging 19th-century exploration with artistic innovation in graphite studies. A bequest from Marguerite H. Rohlfs in 1995 preserves this window into an icon of American Romanticism.

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 ...