Albert Bierstadt was a German-American painter best known for his grandiose landscapes of the 19th-century American West. Born on January 7, 1830 in Solingen, Prussia, Bierstadt's family immigrated to New Bedford, MA in 1831. In his early 20s, Bierstadt traveled to Düsseldorf, Germany to gain deeper knowledge and skill of painting, returning to the United States in 1857 and subsequently fell into favor with the Hudson River School painters in New York. Soon he began traveling with land surveying teams to the U.S. Western territories, taking detailed sketches that served as fodder for his epic, large-scale paintings that brought him acclaim. The artist continued painting until his death on February 18, 1902 in New York, NY and although grand landscapes fell out of favor in the art world late in his life, his position as the quintessential painter of the American West is firmly solidified. Bierstadt's work can be found among many important cultural institutions, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C, the Brooklyn Museum in New York, and the White House.