Gilcrease opens landmark exhibit of artist Albert Bierstadt

Albert BierstadtTulsa World
Nov. 4, 2018
James Watts

One thing Laura Fry has learned during the nearly three years she has spent working on Gilcrease Museum’s latest exhibit is that, when it comes to artist Albert Bierstadt, sometimes smaller is better.

Bierstadt is most famous for his epic landscapes of the American West, such as the luminous Sierra Nevada Morning, which is part of the Gilcrease permanent collection.

But for this new exhibit, titled Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West, Fry discovered that some of Bierstadt’s smaller paintings can be just as dazzling as his epic landscapes.

“The sense of light, and the attention to detail, in some of these smaller works is just exquisite,” said Fry, senior curator at Gilcrease and co-curator of the exhibit. “They’ve really given me a new appreciation of Bierstadt as a painter.”

A new approach to understanding the impact of Bierstadt and his art is at the heart of Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West, a collaboration between Gilcrease Museum and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming.

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On view through Feb. 10, 2018. Learn more about Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West