4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2010.

The Emerald Pool

Artist Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830-1902)

Date1870

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions76 1/2 x 119 in. (194.3 x 302.3 cm)
Overall, Frame: 85 3/4 × 127 7/8 × 5 in. (217.8 × 324.8 × 12.7 cm)

ClassificationsAmerican art

Credit LineBequest of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number89.59

Terms

Forest
Stream
Mountain
Green
Yellow
Orange
Brown
White
Blue
Gray
Black
Hudson River School
Landscape
New Hampshire

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting of a landscape depicting a scene of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. A dark pool of water in the foreground is surrounded by trees: the scene takes place around the end of summer because of the bright greens, yellows, and reds in the trees. Mountains appear in the background.

Label TextAlbert Bierstadt American, 1830–1902 The Emerald Pool, 1870 Oil on canvas Chrysler understood how appealing largescale, exceptionally fine, and grand works of art would be in a public art museum. The artist’s vision was not dissimilar. When Albert Bierstadt unveiled one of his gigantic paintings, it was a spectacular event. City audiences flocked to see paintings like The Emerald Pool, one of his largest canvases, which shows off New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. Curtains and elaborate frames added theatrical grandeur to his exhibitions, and visitors brought opera glasses to study minute details. Although Bierstadt crisscrossed America to sketch its natural wonders from life, he often exaggerated scale in his paintings, indulging viewers’ taste for a thrilling vision of nature. Bequest of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 89.59