2024 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 167167 / 405 • View Catalog •
Prev Lot
•
Next Lot 
Niagara Falls, from the American Side will be included in the Albert Bierstadt Catalogue Raisonné. A letter from Melissa Webster Speidel, Director of the Albert Bierstadt Catalogue Raisonné, will accompany the lot.
Bierstadt historian Melissa Webster Speidel writes, “Always drawn to the magnificent beauty in nature, Bierstadt visited Niagara Falls throughout his career and painted at least 39 oils of the falls from various vantage points. His older brother, Charles, had moved there in 1863 and set up a successful business as photographer. Albert Bierstadt’s first documented visit to Niagara Falls was in 1865 and his last documented visit there was in 1882.
“In Niagara Falls, from the American Side, Bierstadt gives us a sweeping view that includes the Canadian falls and a rainbow on the right. There is an immediacy about the painting: it is a closer view of the falls than, for example, his painting View of Niagara Falls. We can almost hear the thunder of the falling water and feel the spray.
“On the left, the artist depicts Terrapin Tower on Goat Island. The tower, 30-40 feet tall, was constructed by brothers Peter and Augustes Porter in 1833 and destroyed by them in 1873. This could indicate the painting dates from 1863, Bierstadt’s first trip to Niagara, to 1873, the year the tower was demolished. It is possible, however, that he painted it later and referred to photographs such as that made by his brother Charles taken from a similar vantage point with the Terrapin Tower.
“Bierstadt painted many views of Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls, from the American Side, focuses on the falls and frothing waters, capturing the energy and beauty of this still magnificent phenomenon.”
PROVENANCE
Private collection, California