1871 -1881 · Geysers, falls and imagination of the national park

Bierstadt amplifies geysers, canyons and Yellowstone Falls through light and scale: his paintings contribute to wonder but also to the construction of a national landscape.

Albert Bierstadt was already famous for his vast landscapes of the American West when he visited the Yellowstone region in 1881. The national park was created in 1872, after expeditions, scientific surveys, photographs and images which convinced the public of the singularity of the territory. Bierstadt paints geysers, canyons and falls by combining observations, sketches and workshop recomposition. Geysers in Yellowstone use steam, mineral water and silhouettes to give scale to a phenomenon difficult to represent. Yellowstone Falls, on the contrary, opens up a vast vertical space where the clear waterfall crosses the colorful walls of the canyon. Several versions modify light, point of view and amplitude. These works participate in the preservation movement, but they also belong to a vision of the West often presented as "wild" and available, which minimizes the presence and history of indigenous peoples. Looking at them today involves holding together pictorial power, promotion of the park and territorial context. The "Yellowstone by Albert Bierstadt" selection notably compares Geysers in Yellowstone and Geyser, Yellowstone Park. Its reading favors the material.

Bierstadt Yellowstone seems out of history; its visual grandeur has nevertheless contributed to a very concrete history of tourism, conservation and territorial erasure.