When the Salt Lake Art Museum opened its doors for the first time in July, visitors were greeted with a stunning exhibition on landscape painter Albert Bierstadt. The German painter is widely known for his works of Yosemite National Park and the Rocky Mountains. Less known are his paintings from the Beehive State, which is explored in the exhibition Albert Bierstadt in Utah.

Bierstadt traveled through Utah at various points between 1863 and 1881. During those trips, a number of works were completed, including some only recently identified. Many of these rare and important paintings—some of them previously unknown to researchers due to mislabeling or the absence of titles—will be part of the new Utah exhibition. 

Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Little Cottonwood Canyon, ca. 1870. Oil on canvas, 37 x 29 in. Anthony’s Fine Art, Salt Lake City. 

 

“Most people know Bierstadt for his paintings of California and across national parks,” says Micah Christensen, the scholar behind the recent Bierstadt discoveries and founder of the Salt Lake Art Museum. “What many don’t realize is that he returned to Utah repeatedly over nearly two decades, spending more time in Salt Lake City than any western city other than San Francisco. This exhibition helps restore a substantial and largely forgotten chapter of his story.”

Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Salt Lake Valley, View of the Wasatch, ca. 1873. Oil on canvas, 16½ x 28½ in. Private Collection.

 

Subjects painted by the artist include the Wasatch Mountains, Salt Lake Valley, Mount Timpanogos, Little Cottonwood Canyon and many other locations around state. “His visits coincided with a period of extraordinary change in Utah, including westward migration, Mormon settlement, mining expansion and the arrival of the Transcontinental Railroad,” the museum notes. 

The exhibition is curated by Christensen, co-curated and designed by Aloe Corry, and assistant curated and designed by Elizabeth Finlayson. It runs through September 19. —

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