If this summer’s visitors to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West are any indication, nineteenth-century artist Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) has a whole new following. This fall, the Center’s exhibition Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West moves to Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, leaving in its wake great memories, compelling stories, and of course, extraordinary artwork. The exhibition is on display at the Center through September 30.
“The magnificent beauty of the natural world is a manifestation of the mysterious natural laws that will be forever obscured from us,” Bierstadt once said. One need only view Bierstadt’s masterworks to understand what the artist meant.
The Center of the West and Gilcrease Museum partnered to present the groundbreaking exhibition about Bierstadt, best known as America’s premier western landscape artist. But, he was also a renowned history painter, a rarely discussed element of his legacy. Witness to a Changing West examines Bierstadt’s work in context of his treatment not just of majestic mountains and lakes, but of bison and American Indians, subjects he approached as integral to his art. It’s clear that Bierstadt loved the West, observing, “Truly all is remarkable and a wellspring of amazement and wonder. Man is so fortunate to dwell in this American Garden of Eden.”
Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West opens in Tulsa, November 3, 2018, and is on view through February 10, 2019. Learn more about this remarkable artist here.
Since 1917, the award-winning Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, has devoted itself to sharing the story of the authentic American West. The Center is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. For more information, visit centerofthewest.org or the Center’sFacebook page. #100YearsMore
