Artwork
Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm
Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm is an oil painting by the Hudson River School artist Albert Bierstadt. It dates from 1869 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Albert Bierstadt's Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm depicts a herd of buffalo moving through a sparsely wooded landscape beneath a darkened, storm-laden sky.
Albert Bierstadt's Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm depicts a herd of buffalo moving through a sparsely wooded landscape beneath a darkened, storm-laden sky. The two pictorial elements formally catalogued in the work's iconographic record are buffalo and tree, establishing a scene focused on the great migratory herds of the American plains and the rugged terrain they traversed. Classified within the genre of animal art, the painting uses these subjects to evoke the untamed wilderness of the trans-Mississippi West, with the looming storm serving as a metaphor for the forces, both natural and historical, gathering over the buffalo and their habitat.
The composition thus functions as both a naturalistic observation of animal movement through the landscape and a symbolic meditation on the fragility of a vanishing frontier.
Technique & Style
Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm is an oil painting executed on canvas in 1869. The work measures 74.9 cm in height by 125.7 cm in width and portrays a buffalo alongside a tree, reflecting the animal‑subject focus of Albert Bierstadt’s oeuvre. The painting’s formal qualities include a dramatic composition that balances the massive animal form with the surrounding foliage, a hallmark of the artist’s approach to landscape and wildlife.
Its material composition consists of oil pigments applied to a stretched canvas support, a technique typical of 19th‑century American genre paintings. The piece has been part of the National Gallery of Art’s collection since 2014, having previously entered the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1960.
History & Provenance
Albert Bierstadt painted Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm in 1869, an oil on canvas work depicting a buffalo and a tree. The painting entered the market through J. Kugal in France, then passed to Bernard Black before being sold to James Graham and Sons in New York in 1958. It subsequently appeared at Kennedy Galleries, New York, where it was acquired in 1960 by Mrs. and Mrs. Lansdell K. Christie for the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
In 2014 the work was purchased by the National Gallery of Art, where it remains on view. Documentation of the early ownership chain comes from a letter dated 8 September 1960 in National Gallery curatorial files.
Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm, an 1869 oil on canvas by Albert Bierstadt, is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The painting entered the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1960 when it was acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Lansdell K. Christie from Kennedy Galleries in New York. Earlier ownership traces through Bernard Black and the dealer James Graham and Sons in New York in 1958, with a prior history linking the work to J. Kugal in France, as documented in a letter from Graham dated 8 September 1960 in the NGA curatorial files. The Corcoran's collection was subsequently acquired by the National Gallery of Art in 2014, bringing the painting into its present institutional home. The canvas measures 74.9 by 125.7 centimeters.
Overview
Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm is an oil on canvas painting created by Albert Bierstadt in 1869. This work captures a scene of buffalo traversing a natural landscape, characterized by a sense of quiet anticipation. Bierstadt, known for his grand depictions of the American West, here focuses on a specific moment in nature, suggesting a narrative beyond a simple landscape.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West.
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