I4501

American Treasures

Valley of the Yosemite by Albert Bierstadt

Collins Cover Announcement 

Albert Bierstadt

Masterful Painter of the American West

During the westward expansion of the late 1800s, a superb German-American painter traveled the great scenic wilderness areas of our beautiful country and recorded his visual experiences in remarkable paintings. He was a member of the "Hudson River School" which was a group of likeminded artists, and he is considered the foremost painter of western landscapes during his century.

Bierstadt was born in Germany on January 8, 1830. When he was three, his family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts. As a young adult, he taught drawing and painting briefly before deciding to dedicate himself to a lifetime of painting. He began by making paintings of rural New England and upstate New York. In 1859 he traveled west with a U.S. Government land surveyor, and from then throughout his career, it was this part of the country that he richly recorded on canvas. His use of light was thought to be slightly excessive, and his color choices were not always exactly true — but rather within the realm of his own artistic preferences. The results, however, especially throughout the Rocky Mountain region, were spectacular, and today his original paintings command ever-increasing prices.

For my individually hand painted cachet, I chose as the subject the magnificent Yosemite Valley in California which is the Bierstadt painting scene depicted on the new stamp. The picturesque valley surrounded by sheer cliffs is the scenic backdrop while in the foreground a prowling black bear and vigilant great horned owl add an excellent wildlife presence to the vista. I hope that Albert would have approved and enjoyed this First Day Cover rendition to his artistic accomplishments. I'm pleased to offer this Yosemite Valley tribute from the west he loved to one of America's greatest landscape painters — Albert Bierstadt. Collins #14501 —$13.25.