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Albert Bierstadt

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Born in Germany, raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and trained as an artist in Düsseldorf, Albert Bierstadt emerged at the beginning of the 1860s as a rapidly-rising star of the American art world. A trip to the Rocky Mountains in 1859 resulted in several huge paintings of Western scenery that solidified his reputation. Bierstadt visited California for the first time in 1863, spending about a month in Yosemite Valley before returning to his New York studio. There he worked up his field studies into major paintings that did more to publicize the wonders of California scenery than written accounts or photographs. Bierstadt returned to San Francisco in 1871 and spent most of the next two years as a resident California painter, traveling around the state taking plein-air studies.