Albert Bierstadt’s West
It was called Luminism, a term created by 20th century art historians to cover a style of American painting that started as part of the Hudson Valley School and flourished from 1850-1870. Many of the paintings are quite small and quiet in their pursuit of how to paint light. The idea was to focus on calm, to minimize the trace of brush strokes as a way of limiting the “personality” of the painter, and to capture the effects of light. While some think of this period as a type of American Impressionism, it had nothing to do with Impressionism but instead was influenced by Romanticism. It is that Romanticism that helps explain how Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), known as a luminist painter, could produce paintings that vary so much from the qualities listed above. The grandeur of the western American landscape, which is quite a bit different from the calm of the Hudson River Valley, played a key role in how his luminism took on a different aspect, one more full of drama and spectacle. It must be noted that Frederick Church, another famous luminist painter and a native of the Hudson Valley, also created large dramatic paintings of the American West. It would seem that the landscape took both of them over.
Albert Bierstadt was born in Germany, but grew up in the United States. At the age of twenty-three, he returned to Germany to study painting in Dusseldorf. Upon his return to the U.S. four years later, he searched for a niche within which to distinquish himself and found it when accompanying a party headed by Frederic Lander that was surveying the Oregon Trail in 1859. Bierstadt learned a lot about the Native American cultures in the area and held a great respect for the people and their culture. He painted Lander’s Peak (1863) which landed him into some notoriety because in the foreground of the painting was an encampment of Native people. Such a peaceful scene of Native people at the time was seen as inappropriate, as Native Americans were not seen as worthy subjects. Bierstadt still wanted to represent the reality of the West that he knew, so he began to use the buffalo as a symbolic substitute to represent the Native Americans and their way of life. In fact, he began to include many of the animals that populated the high mountains of the western U.S., becoming famous for his animal portraits, as well as for a series of butterfly paintings. A true artist, he once took aim with his rifle at a buffalo, but instead put the gun down and took up his paints instead.
Here we have Bierdtadt’s Yosemite Falls (c. 1865) now at the Worchester Art Museum. In this painting, we see his focus on the effects of the light as it penetrates the mist from the falls. The center of the painting that shows the falls and the mountains is shrouded somewhat in a fine haze. The more sharply defined foreground with the stream, trees, and grasses makes for a contrast, though as the trees recede toward the falls, they dim in the mist as well. Here the luminist desire to present light is magnificently shown in how the clouds, falling waters, and mist are handled. As always we still see that sense of drama that comes with so many of Bierstadt’s paintings.
This is another dramatic scene captured on a big canvas by Bierstadt. In thinking about his use of the drama of nature, I make a connection to a French painter known for academicism, i.e. paintings of large historical scenes. Jean-Léon Gérome (1824-1904) did not do landscapes, but he is known for rather theatrical, sometimes now called “cinematic” presentations, that propose a dramatic climax as the real subject of the painting. Both painters worked at the same time, so I wonder if something about that appeal to drama also was an influence on Bierstadt. Whatever the case, Albert Bierstadt is one of the great painters of the western landscape, helping to create the romantic allure that drove the idea of moving ever further west. For more on Bierstadt, I recommentd a series called Witness to a Changing West youtube.com
Georgia O’Keeffe’s Southwest
Painting used here in accordance with Fair Use Policy for purposes of review, critique and discussion.
In my dining room over a rather rustic side table holding an assortment of colorful dishes and pottery, there is a framed poster of this wonderful O’Keeffe painting. I am always fascinated by the subtleties of the mist and fog shown in this piece. The limited palette of beiges, grays, and browns serves to illustrate just how much can be expressed with skillful use of the tones and shades of just a few colors. Those twisting branches show the age and character of the trees that have struggled through many winters, perhaps with a fallen branch or two as seen in the bottom right corner. Yet, they have survived to fill their branches every year with beautiful green leaves that rustle in the summer breeze and shimmer in the moonlight.
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) was not from the Southwest, but she found her spiritual home to be there. Knowing from the age of 10 or 12 (the stories vary) that she wanted to be a painter, her early academic training in which she learned to copy well the works of famous artists bored her. It made her not want to paint. Luckily for us, she found the work of Arthur Dow, who stated that the main thing in painting was to “fill a space in a beautiful way.” That re-started her on a path which included her initial work from the Southwest, her famous/infamous flower paintings, her New York skyscraper series, and then her later southwestern pieces. Her unique way of filling the space beautifully was by combining abstraction and realism, as can be seen in all the paintings here. The images are recognizable, yet they are uniquely expressive of the artist’s individual voice and world view.
O’Keeffe is famous for her flowers, here Jimson Weed (1936). Her husband, famed photographer and art dealer, Alfred Stieglitz, however, gave them a Freudian interpretation that set the world looking for sexual symbolism in all her work. To counter this, she started a series on the tall buildings of New York City. Stieglitz commented that many male artists had tried to treat New York’s skyscrapers without success, so what did she think she could do with it?
O’Keeffe admits that Stieglitz was difficult, but a wonderful difficult, and she was not to be kept down. Off she went to New Mexico. When asked in later years how she got her husband’s permission to go off like that. She smiled wryly and said, “I didn’t ask him anything; I just went.” Thus she went off and on to New Mexico for many years, staying in a small house at Ghost Ranch and finally buying the hacienda that became her home after Stieglitz died (1946). From those two locations we have the body of work that has become synonymous with O’Keeffe, her southwestern landscapes.
In the painting above, we not only see that combination of the realism and abstraction in the rendering of the mountains and clouds, but there is a touch of the surreal in the presentation of the ram’s skull and the hollyhock. They seem like symbols of life and death in the desert. The fluidity seen in the representation of the storm clouds is echoed somewhat in the way the reddish mountains flow across the canvas. We know what they represent, but they are not precisely realistic. Yet the ram’s skull is finely drawn and painted, something that makes it even more of a standout against that fluid background than its position in mid-air.
Lastly, we have one of O’Keeffe’s many versions of a mountain known as the Pedernal. She said that God promised he’d give it to her if she painted it enough. Nice promise. Once again here we see that special combination of the real and the abstract. The scene is recognizable and the space relationship between the red hills, the green trees, and the distant tabletop mountain create the feeling of distance and dimension. Yet, the roll of the red hills and the different levels of the blue mountains are almost like waves in the ocean. They seem solid yet are susceptible to change. In other words, the hills have a life of their own, and O’Keeffe just kept a good record of it.
To hear O’Keeffe talk about her work, you can find a video series by clicking on this link youtube.com
The Tradition Continues
Bierstadt and O’Keeffe may be gone, but the tradition of painters who love to capture the marvelous landscape and unusual light of the Southwest lives on. Manitou Springs, Colorado, artist, Michael Baum, works in the fine tradition of western/southwestern painting. An avid hiker, camper, and explorer of the canyons, valleys, and streams of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, Baum is dedicated to capturing the essence of this colorful and varied area. In particular he focuses on trying to capture the extraordinary light that he finds in this region.
Here we see his attention to the way the sunlight hits the rockface of this canyon, lighting up the cliffs in the foreground while casting the deeper part of the canyon into shadows. He indicates the lowering slant of the sun with a trace of sunlight at the bottom of the cliffs on the left and ties the brightly lit cliffs on the right to the deeper canyon with a slight reflection of violet. The river is steady and calm and seems to flow toward the viewer, spreading out to become wide and welcoming. The canyon walls are steep and no real riverbanks show themselves, just some greenery that is clinging to the rock. Makes one think of where to camp for the night as the afternoon shadows begin to descend.
Well, one can take many a fascinating journey when looking at one of Baum’s paintings. In fact, you can take a tour of the southwest in this webstory made from Baum’s paintings of the Southwest: ofartandwine.com/webstories
For more of his work and his personal journey as an artist go to “Michael Baum: Pursuing the Landscape” at vernellestudio.com and to michaelbaum.com. The good thing to know is that the physical heritage of the American West and Southwest have served and will continue to serve as inspiration for painters who pursue and capture its glory to share with the rest of us.
Paintings by Bierstadt are in Public Domain. O’Keeffe’s paintings are copywrited to her estate and used in accordance with Fair Use Policy. Baum’s painting is used with the artist’s permission.
Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.
“Colorado Wines – Not An Oxymoron”
Yes, I borrowed that title (or quoted it) from an article that appears in the Wine Spectator, winespectator.com. Admittedly, when one thinks of wines in the United States, the first go-to place is the West Coast: California, Oregon, Washington. You know, those lovely fertile valleys blessed with sea breezes, but no, we are talking about the Rocky Mountains! Yes, I have a big scoop for you. Not only is there a lovely wine-growing region in Colorado, but there are also some very fine wines that are being generated in two areas near the city of Grand Junction. The western slope of the Rockies at about 5,400 to 6,400 feet above sea level provides high altitude, hot days, low rainfall, and rich volcanic soil, which in Grand Valley (east of Grand Junction) means a superb Cabernet Franc and an equally delicious Merlot. A smaller area, a bit more mountainous, is West Elk, part of the North Fork Valley. It does well with white grapes and thin-skinned grapes. Gerwurtztraminer is one of the prime products, though Pinot Noir grapes grow well there, too.
So you are still skeptical? Well, no one knows wines like a Frenchman from Provence, and Yvon Gros, owner of Leroux Creek Vineyards is that Frenchman. Gros found the North Fork Valley near the town of Hotchkiss, Colorado, to be remarkably like Provence. Gros and his wife, Joanna, first came to the area in 1999. They started a bed and breakfast then went into growing grapes and making wine. That effort has turned into the Leroux Creek Inn and Vineyards, a place that has not only lovely accommodations, but also good wines and excellent dining opportunities. Monsieur Gros generously offers a few good recipes on the Leroux Creek website, one of which he demonstrates in a video: http://lerouxcreekvineyards.com/from-the-kitchen-paella/. Being from Provence, he naturally found a way to make a rosé, as rosé is the wine of Provence. Described as having “lovely flavors and aromas of cherry and strawberry,” Rosé de Leroux pairs well with “tapas, grilled chicken and salad.” lerouxcreekvineyards.com
Another place of interest in the North Fork Valley is Jack Rabbit Hill Farms. Here the speciality seems to be Riesling. Uniquely, they are also a USDA certified organic and biodynamic winery. Their motto is “Old School, New World.” Check out their story and their wines here jackrabbithill.com. However, I dare not leave out the Grand Valley area, which is the larger of the two primary growing areas. There you find the possibility of doing a real wine tour through a number of vineyards with wine tasting opportunities. The Grand Valley Winery Association offers its Barrel Into Spring event, currently scheduled for May 16-17, which will present barrel tastings and gourmet food pairings. The best way to get an idea of how to navigate Grand Valley is to look at the information on the Visit Grand Junction website. I provide a link here that goes directly to the wineries and tasting section of their website, visitgrandjunction.com.
For those of us and any of you who travel to Colorado but do not make it to the Western Slope of the Rockies, just drive down I-25 from Denver about 60 miles to Colorado Springs, then take HWY 24 10 miles west up into the hills to Cascade. There you will find The Wines of Colorado, which has wines from 95 Colorado wineries, the largest selection of Colorado wines in the state. They provide a great menu, currently available for take-out, but served normally in their creekside restaurant. All the details can be found at winesofcolorado.com.
The western United States has lots to offer, like great art showing majestic mountains, colorful cliffs and canyons, and stunning vistas. Add to that some locally produced wine for, dare I say, a Rocky Mountain high (but only in moderation), and you might just move to Colorado.
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©marjorie vernelle 2020
Coming soon on Of Art and Wine: Painted Animals and Wine + Chile (and not just the country).
People love their pets and that is something that dates far back in history to those first animals that humans domesticated. From animals that feature in the portraits of the famous and animal portraits used to express human folly to portraits of pets and the famous Trail of the Painted Ponies Exhibition in Santa Fe, NM, pets have a fascinating artistic history. And since we talk of Santa Fe, how about exploring wine and chile (a more interesting combination than you might think).