Bison with Coyotes in the Background 

Albert Bierstadt made this oil on paperboard painting, Bison with Coyotes in the Background, sometime during his career. He was known for his grandiose depictions of the American West during a time when the concept of Manifest Destiny fueled westward expansion. Bierstadt romanticizes the landscape but this imagery coincided with the displacement of Indigenous peoples and the near extinction of the bison. The painting elicits a complex mix of awe and sorrow. The massive bison is rendered vulnerable and the coyotes lurking in the background add a sense of unease. While the majestic bison was a symbol of the American frontier, its fate was intertwined with the destructive policies of westward expansion. This painting can be viewed as a meditation on the cost of progress. It asks us to consider the narratives we tell about our history and whose voices are often left out.