Rocky Mountain, Lander’s Peak

The piece of artwork, done by Albert Bierstadt in 1863, titled Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak, is an oil on canvas and is of true inspirational beauty. He perfectly captures the cool, vivid colors of the real forest. The scene makes you feel extremely calm, peaceful, and serene due to the relaxing nature of the picture itself. The cast shadows make the painting very 3-D and make you feel as though you are standing directly in the field, looking at the scenery yourself. The more you observe the painting, the more you can hear the horses in the field, the water rushing down the fall, and the more you can smell the fresh rocky mountain air. The extreme detail in the horses, people, and forestry show Bierstadt’s time and effort spent in perfecting this masterpiece.

The diagonal lines of the sloping mountains very clearly separate the sky from the horizontal lines of the field and forest. The cool, slightly monochromatic, blue color of the sky and mountains also creates a clear separation from more upfront darker greenery. Bierstadt also paints beautiful sfumato because the vivid colors in front gradually fade to the softened colors in the back showing that they are farther away. The trees on the front left show chiaroscuro because of the uneven light from the sun resulting in shadows. All in all, Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak, by Albert Bierstadt, is a magnificent piece of art that displays the natural beauty, vivid colors, and calm serenity of the Rocky Mountains.