“Sunset of the Prairies”
This beautiful, but quite small oil on paper piece is by the German American artist, Albert Bierstadt, and is titled “Sunset of the Prairies”. It was painted circa 1881 to 1882 and is one of his most well-known works. In it he depicts indigenous Americans presumably making their way home in the setting sun.
Though Bierstadt got his start in the Hudson River School of Art, he is mostly known for his paintings depicting the American West, as these are the ones that made him famous in his day. This is one of those pieces of the movement now referred to as the Rocky Mountain School of Art.
This painting shows Bierstadt’s talent with the Luminism art style through the soft, warm glow of infusing light he was able to paint with his brush. Bierstadt was criticized by critics of his day for using colors that he thought the scene should display rather than what was actually there. Today, he is celebrated for those artistic choices.
“Sunset of the Prairies” is currently in a private collection.
For more on Albert Bierstadt, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
