Minnehaha Falls
Artist
Albert Bierstadt
(American, 1830-1902)
CultureAmerican
Date1886
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall, Frame: 42 5/8 x 53 in. (108.3 x 134.6 cm)
Credit LinePromised gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Batten
Object numberL2010.1.7
Not on view
DescriptionLabel TextAlbert Bierstadt American, 1830–1902 Minnehaha Falls, 1886 Oil on canvas White sunlight dances along the creek’s surface, suggesting the playful sounds of this Minnesota waterfall. Thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s best-selling poem The Song of Hiawatha (1855), Albert Bierstadt and his contemporaries believed the name Minnehaha meant “Laughing Water” in the Dakota Indian language. In the poem, the warrior Hiawatha journeys through this beautiful region to court a maiden named Minnehaha, whom he calls “handsomest of all the women...the sunlight of my people.” Promised gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Batten Exhibition History"American Masterpieces from the Batten Collection," Gallery 220, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., January 26 - July 31, 2011. "Our Community Collects: From Durer to Warhol and Beyond," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, September 21, 2011 - December 31, 2011. "American Treasures at the Willoughby-Baylor House," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, January 2 - December 1, 2013. Published ReferencesAmerican Alliance of Museums, "In Museum," _Museum_, March-April 2013, 10.
Charles Bierstadt
