Mountain Landscape 

This ‘Mountain Landscape’ was painted by Albert Bierstadt with oil on paper. Oil paint is a versatile medium, allowing for a wide range of textures and effects, but it is also time-consuming, requiring layers of application and drying. Bierstadt was part of the Hudson River School, a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by landscape paintings. This evocative painting portrays an awe-inspiring landscape, perhaps reflecting the 19th-century belief in Manifest Destiny, the idea that American settlers were destined to expand across the continent. The labor involved in creating such a detailed work, like this one, stands in contrast to the relative ease of consuming images today. Whether paintings or handmade objects, understanding the labor and materials embedded in artworks enriches our appreciation, challenging the separation of art from craft.