Albert Bierstadt
(German-American, 1830–1902)
Salt Lake Valley, View of the Wasatch, c. 1870
Oil on canvas, 16 ½ × 28 ½ in.
This luminous view of Utah’s Salt Lake Valley, with its sweeping plains and towering Wasatch Mountains, exemplifies Albert Bierstadt’s mastery in capturing the grandeur and serenity of the American West. The snow-dusted peaks, rendered with delicacy and atmospheric depth, anchor the composition while soft morning light warms the fertile basin below.
Painted during or shortly after Bierstadt’s western expeditions, this work reflects the artist’s reverence for the American landscape and his role in shaping the visual mythology of the frontier. Unlike his more theatrical compositions of Yosemite or the Rockies, this painting is quietly majestic—a poetic tribute to a vast and emerging land.
