What do you think is the meaning of this painting?

Question

http://www.oilpaintingshop.com/bierstadt/167.jpg

this painting was made in late 1866
Those people are the native western people.

Answer 1

Albert Bierstadt became famous for traveling throughout the early West and capturing it's natural beauty on canvas. I don't think he was consciencely aiming to make any social or political statements. Unlike Russell or Remington, who over-romanticized the white settlers and soldiers, Bierstadt just simply seemed to love nature at it's most magnificent.

Answer 2

i think albert bierstadt was tying to convey the beauty of the western landscape to the many easterners who had never seen that part of the country. bierstadt himself was born in MA, studied art in europe, and later had studios in NYC. He would travel west to take pictures and sketches for the studio works that later ended up in museums.

Answer 3

Remember, this was painted before photography and at a time when a lot of people lived in crowded cities like NYC and worked in factories. It is showing the majestic possibilities of going west, young man. Landscapes vary significantly from region to region. This painting documents a place that many people probably never saw with their own eyes.

Answer 4

Meant to record the scene for prosperity. In those days before the camera people took artists with them on vacation or adventure to make a record of what things actually looked like. Thank goodness for the camera! It freed us up to really be creative!

Answer 5

It's a beautiful landscape. The composition and the touch are nearly perfect. Are you looking for a symbolic meaning ?

Answer 6

I agree there's no "meaning" to this picture in usual sense --
WYSIWYG as they used to say -- a beautiful natural landscape, especially compared to what happened 100 years after in lotta places [urban sprawl, concrete jungle] --
maybe this very scene now a Mall & parking lot --
just to say: I like saving pictures like these, using them as Desktop options

Answer 7

Hi,

I like it very much. Especially the lighting.
The perspective is well worked in all aspects and the fog is quite well achieved.
This makes for a dramatic scene.

Best regards,

José

Answer 8

wow, that's a really beautiful picture. as for what it means, I don't think it has a specific meaning, other than to show how the land looked to them back then. the clouds and colors are kind of ominous looking; maybe they were threatened by the power of nature and tried to show it in this picture.