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About the Albert Bierstadt letters

All information on this page comes from A Finding Aid to the Albert Bierstadt Letter Collection, 1860-1900, in the Archives of American Art by Stephanie Ashley, in the Archives of American Art. (Printable Version of Finding Aid: PDF, 69 KB )

Biographical Information | Description of the Collection | How to Use the Collection

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Biographical Information [+]

Albert Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany, in January 1830. His family emigrated to the United States when he was two years of age and settled in Bedford, Massachusetts. READ MORE

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Description of the Collection

Overview - Scope and Contents [+]

This small collection comprises 13 letters written by renowned Hudson River School landscape painter Albert Bierstadt between 1860 and 1900. The majority of the letters were penned in the last two decades of his life. READ MORE

Arrangement and Series Description

Due to the small size of this collection, items are arranged as one chronological series.

• Series 1: Albert Bierstadt Letters, 1860-1900 (Box 1; 13 items)

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Subjects

This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Archives of American Art under the following terms:

• Subjects-Topical:
  
  • Hudson River school of landscape painting
  • Art -- Economic aspects
  • Artists' studios -- New York (State) -- New York
  • Landscape painters -- New York (State) -- New York

• Subjects-Geographical:
  
  • Yosemite National Park (Calif.)

Provenance

The collection was acquired by the Archives of American Art in a series of accessions between 1955 and 2001. Six letters were donated by Charles Feinberg in 1955-1957; one letter was donated by Letitia Howe in 1976; one letter was donated by Mrs. Miles Reber, grandaughter-in-law of General Nelson in 1976; two letters were purchased from Charles Hamilton Autographs in 1956; one letter was purchased from Steele in 1956; and one letter was purchased from Scott J. Winslow Associates in 2001.

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How the Collection was Processed

Portions of the collection were microfilmed as separate collections on reels D8 and 2787. Other letters were not microfilmed but maintained as separate manuscript collections. All of the related letters by Bierstadt were compiled as one collection and described by Stephanie Ashley in 2007 and digitized in 2008 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

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How to Use the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Albert Bierstadt letter collecton is owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

The collection has been digitized and is available online via the Archives of American Art website.

Available Formats

This collection has been digitized. View the Albert Bierstadt letters online

The letters were digitized in 2008 and are available online via the Archives of American Art's website.

Related Collections

Also found at the Archives of American Art are the Robert Neuhaus papers concerning Clyfford Still and Albert Bierstadt, 1884-1984 (bulk 1941-1984). A circa 1875 photograph of Bierstadt by Bierstadt Brothers given to the Archives by an unknown donor is available in the Archives of American Art's Photographs of Artists Collection I and online.

How to Cite this Collection

Albert Bierstadt letter collection, 1860-1900. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

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