The Golden Lie of the West
Albert Bierstadt did not paint the American West as it was. He painted it as a spectacular lie. When he unveiled Valley of the Yosemite in 1868 he was not acting as a humble servant of nature. He was a showman. He rented out theaters and charged people admission just to stare at a single canvas. They lined up and handed over their coins to see a manufactured dream of the frontier.
Look closely at the cliffs. Bierstadt stretched the actual geology of Yosemite until the rock faces became absurdly steep and theatrical. He took a beautiful valley and turned it into an operatic stage set. Then he bathed the whole scene in a glowing golden light that never actually existed outside his studio. It was a calculated illusion and he knew exactly what he was doing.
He painted these massive oil on canvas fantasies because there was a very specific market for them. Tycoons and railroad barons bought these majestic landscapes to hang in their mansions. The paintings served a dark purpose. They made the brutal expansion into western territories look like a divine mandate instead of a bloody conquest. If the land was this empty and glowing with holy light then taking it was just destiny. Bierstadt gave the wealthy a masterpiece and a clean conscience. He altered the mountains to hide the truth and made a fortune doing it.
References
Bierstadt, Albert. Valley of the Yosemite. 1868. Oil on canvas.
Cronon, William. Natures Metropolis Chicago and the Great West. W. W. Norton, 1991.
Hyde, Anne Farrar. An American Vision Far Western Landscape and National Culture. New York University Press, 1990.
