Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) was born in Germany and at the age of two, he moved with his parents to Massachusetts. In his early twenties, he studied art in Dusseldorf, Germany. He traveled between the U.S. and Europe throughout his life and painted mostly for private collectors. Between 1859 and 1889, he traveled through the West on six different occasions where he drew inspiration for many of his paintings (Encarta, 2000). During his visits, Albert drew numerous sketches, which later became the basis for his works. Bierstadt's brother, who was a photographer, accompanied him on several of his travels across the U.S. and upon seeing the landscapes from the photographs; Alber

t was driven to paint these spectacular scenes from nature for people in the East. Bierstadt's paintings combine both European and American influences. Although the subject matter in 19th century Europe consisted of mainly historical anecdotes with a movement towards Realism, Bierstadt painted conventional American subject matter of landscapes and still life with German style. Because of Albert's broad background, his depiction of mountains often takes on an Alpine flavor (Encarta, 2000). Bierstadt was one of the premier American landscape painters of the 1800's and was well known in both the U.S. and Europe.

Although Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains is a reflection of the American West, it was painted far from the U.S. This particular painting was created in Rome and displayed in Berlin, London and Paris (Honour and Fleming, 2000). It depicts a photographic-like scene of a lake beneath the rocky cliffs of mountains. Breaking through the dark clouds after a summer storm, sunlight reflects off of a glassy lake with mirrored images of the mountains above. The trees on the right and the cliffs on the left create a "v" in the center of the painting, which draws the viewer's eye towards the lower center. At this point, a small waterfall comes down the center of the mountain and empties into the lake. Distant snowcapped peaks are present in the center right part of scene, where clouds consume parts of the mountains. The cliffs on the right appear smooth in comparison to the rough woods edge and larger mountains on the left.

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