[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 188 (Thursday, December 8, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING ALBERT BIERSTADT AND THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL OF PAINTING

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                            HON. JARED POLIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2011

  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a change in 
the Capitol Visitors Center. Two paintings by the prominent 19th 
century painter Albert Bierstadt have recently been returned to the 
Capitol Complex by the Architect of the Capitol. Originally purchased 
after the Civil War, ``Discovery of the Hudson River'' and ``Entrance 
into Monterey,'' are part of the first indigenous American school of 
painting, called the Hudson River School. This movement was not just 
restricted to beautiful landscapes--it also had an important influence 
on American culture, recreation, and conservation.
  Though the Hudson River School originated in upstate New York, 
painters soon began traveling widely to study and capture new scenes. 
These travels took the painters to Europe, the Middle East, North 
Africa, South America, and the American West. Bierstadt is one of the 
most prominent artists of the Western United States, and has a strong 
connection to my district in Colorado.
  In 1859, Bierstadt traveled to my home State of Colorado and to 
Wyoming, then territories, with a government surveyor. The large-scale 
landscapes he painted from his notes and sketches from this trip 
prompted the creation of many more paintings back in his studio. 
Bierstadt's depiction of the craggy peaks of the Rockies, the Sierra 
Nevada, and in Yosemite, among others, resulted in the christening of 
Mount Bierstadt in my district.
  In the 1870s, Congress purchased several of Bierstadt's works, 
including the two that hang today in the CVC. These same paintings, and 
other Western landscapes by Hudson River School painters, coupled with 
a growing environmental conservation movement, inspired Congress to 
protect this natural beauty through the creation of Yellowstone and 
Yosemite National Parks. Later, these paintings were used again to 
prompt the formation of the National Park Service.
  This is just one example of the Hudson River School of Painters' 
legacy. The School emphasized realistic, highly detailed scenes that 
were very popular over the 19th century. These works captured the 
beauty and variety of the American landscape.
  Painters from the Hudson River School also had a hand in the 
foundation of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Inspired 
by the artistic culture of the capitals of Europe, School painters 
joined other area businessmen and academics to form the Met in 1870. 
Bierstadt met with the President, and other painters of the School 
served as trustees or as members of the executive committee. Today, 
many of Bierstadt's works hang in the Met alongside works by many other 
Hudson River School painters, as well as other institutions like the 
Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage Americans of all ages to take the time to 
view these paintings and consider the beauty and greatness of these 
landscapes, both on canvas and in the wilderness.

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