Mono Lake, Sierra Nevada, California 1872

Albert Bierstadt created this oil on paper painting of Mono Lake and the Sierra Nevada in California, though the date of its creation is unknown. Bierstadt was part of the Hudson River School movement, which romanticized the American landscape, often during a period of westward expansion. His depictions of the West contributed to the idea of manifest destiny, the belief that American settlers were destined to expand across the continent. What's often left out of the history books is the devastating effect this expansion had on Native American populations and the environment. Bierstadt's artistic choices, such as emphasizing the vastness and unspoiled nature of the landscape, obscure the complex history of colonization, dispossession, and ecological change that underpinned this era. Consider the emotional impact of these grand landscapes and what stories they tell, and perhaps more importantly, what stories they leave out.