The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 760

 The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak by Albert Bierstadt captures a peaceful moment of Native Americans in the deep part of the Rocky Mountains. At the center of the composition, a waterfall glistens brightly under the sunlight. In the distance, snow-covered mountain peaks cascade panoramically, blending seamlessly with the shallow clouds that share the same luminous hue as the snow.

 In the expansive field below, Native Americans are gathered, some on horseback. They appear to be concluding a hunt, with hunted animals scattered across the ground. What might have been an ordinary moment for these natives is rendered as a poignant scene, symbolizing the final harmony between Native Americans and the Rocky Mountains’ natural abundance. Their way of life, deeply connected to the land, was at risk of being irrevocably disrupted, whether they realized it or not.

 This painting was completed in 1863 by German-American painter Albert Bierstadt, a prominent member of the Hudson River School. This group of artists celebrated the American landscape, striving to depict its grandeur and beauty through their own vision. The location depicted in the painting corresponds to what is now part of Wyoming. Bierstadt traveled to the Wyoming Range in 1859, during a time when only mountain men had ventured into this remote region of North America.

 Bierstadt’s work made a significant impact in the 1860s, sparking immense interest in the American West among the general public. This painting is now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in Gallery 760, alongside other iconic works of American art. Notable pieces in this gallery include Heart of the Andes by Frederic Edwin Church (1859), Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze (1851), Sunrise on the Matterhorn by Albert Bierstadt (1875), and The Valley of Wyoming by Jasper Francis Cropsey (1865).