American Art

Provenance:

Sold: Sotheby's, New York, May, 5, 1994, Lot 3

We would like to thank Melissa Webster Speidel, President of the Bierstadt Foundation and Director of the Albert Bierstadt catalogue raisonné project, for her assistance in the cataloguing of this work, which is included in the database being compiled for her forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's oeuvre.

As the title suggests, Bahamian View depicts a scene in the Bahamas. The Bahamas is an island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida. In the late nineteenth century, it was touted for the healing properties of its mild climate and sought as a refuge those in poor health. Struggling with tuberculosis, Bierstadt’s wife, Rosalie, was among those who sought its benevolent weather and wintered there from 1876 until her death in 1893, staying in Nassau on the island of New Providence. Bierstadt visited the island when she was there and made oil sketches and studies of the ocean and boats, the beaches, vegetation, and buildings.

The artist painted views that vary from scenes taken from the top of one of the island’s hills looking out through foliage over rooftops; to the ocean, like Bahamian View; to sketches of the harbor with its boats and fishing activities; to scenes of palm trees with buildings; to studies of tropical vegetation. In the artworks, as he does in Bahamian View, Bierstadt often captures the jewel-like greens, blues, and turquoises that typify the island.

Although Bierstadt is known mainly for his western and European landscapes, he did many other subjects as well. There are currently 44 artworks of the Bahamas in the Albert Bierstadt database. Bierstadt was drawn to beauty wherever he could find it and that included this tropical paradise.