Hatch Hatchy Valley, California 

Albert Bierstadt painted 'Hatch Hatchy Valley, California' with oil on canvas, a choice that places him squarely in the traditions of European landscape painting. But consider the cultural context. Bierstadt was part of the westward expansion of the United States, which was fundamentally about the exploitation of natural resources. Oil paints were the perfect medium to depict this process, the smooth, almost industrial application mirroring the ambition of the US project. The sheer scale and drama of his paintings, built up with layers of paint, are testament to the labor involved. There's something very American about that effort, akin to the ambition of building railroads and felling forests. Even though he's depicting nature, the work feels akin to manufacturing. The fact that these landscapes were rapidly disappearing even as he painted them only underscores the point. The traditional medium contrasts sharply with the depicted subject.