Artwork
Mount Corcoran
Mount Corcoran is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist Albert Bierstadt. It dates from 1876 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
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- Inscribed:lower right, AB in monogram: ABierstadt
About this work
In 1877 Albert Bierstadt unveiled this vast Sierra Nevada vista under the plain title Mountain Lake at the National Academy of Design in New York.
In 1877 Albert Bierstadt unveiled this vast Sierra Nevada vista under the plain title Mountain Lake at the National Academy of Design in New York. A year later, after the Corcoran Gallery of Art acquired his rival Frederic Edwin Church's Niagara, Bierstadt rechristened the canvas Mount Corcoran and offered it to the museum's founder, William Wilson Corcoran, along with a War Department map showing a real peak in the Sierra Nevada that he had named for the banker.
Overview
Mount Corcoran is a large-scale oil painting completed by Albert Bierstadt between 1876 and 1877. This composite landscape draws upon the artist's observations and studies from his 1863 journey through California's Sierra Nevada mountains. The work exemplifies Bierstadt's practice of creating grand studio compositions from his field sketches, aiming to convey the majesty of the American West to an East Coast audience.
Technique & Style
Bierstadt's artistic method involved translating outdoor sketches and photographic documentation into expansive studio canvases. The painting features a characteristic arrangement: a serene, reflective lake in the foreground, framed by dark evergreen trees that guide the viewer's gaze towards distant, snow-capped peaks. The meticulous detail in the water and rock formations, coupled with nearly invisible brushwork, reflects the enduring impact of his training at the Düsseldorf Academy.
History & Provenance
When first exhibited in 1877 at the National Academy of Design, the painting was titled Mountain Lake and received a lukewarm critical response, reflecting a shift in public taste. The following year, Bierstadt renamed it Mount Corcoran in an effort to secure its acquisition by the Corcoran Gallery of Art. He honored the museum's founder, William Wilson Corcoran, even providing a government map identifying a real Sierra Nevada peak bearing the banker's name. However, this actual summit bore little resemblance to the one depicted in the painting.
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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.
- Limestone Mountain Landscape
Estes Park, Long’s Peak
Mount Starr King, Yosemite
Mount Starr King, Yosemite
A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie
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L'Éboulement (après l'orage)