Wasatch Mountains 

Albert Bierstadt created this oil on paper work titled, ‘Wasatch Mountains,’ likely in the latter part of the 19th century. Bierstadt was part of the Hudson River School, a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by landscape painters. The movement’s name and aesthetic were inspired by the Hudson River Valley. Yet they shared a vision for landscape as a means of expressing national identity and the concept of manifest destiny. Works like ‘Wasatch Mountains’ express the grandeur of the American West and the sense of unlimited potential that characterized the era. To study this work in greater depth, scholars consult period newspapers, travel guides, and the writings of prominent intellectuals. It shows us that art is not created in a vacuum, but is rather a product of the society and institutions in which it is made.