Among the Sierra Nevada, California

Albert Bierstadt painted "Among the Sierra Nevada, California" in 1868, though he was nowhere near the mountains when he did it. Working from his studio in Rome, he pulled together sketches and memories from his travels through the Sierra Nevada to build one idealized landscape. Rather than copying a real place, he stitched together the grandest bits he had seen into a single dreamlike view. Bierstadt belonged to the Hudson River School, a circle of American painters drawn to nature at its boldest and most theatrical.

Golden light breaks through the clouds and spills across the snowy peaks, then settles onto the still surface of the lake below. Down at the shoreline, a small herd of deer pauses to drink, adding a quiet touch of life to the vast wilderness. Bierstadt had a clear purpose with scenes like this. Images of the untouched West stirred imaginations back East and made people believe the region was a treasure worth traveling to and preserving. He carried the finished canvas across Europe, where crowds gathered to admire it.

The whole thing does feel a little staged, glowing so warmly it edges into paradise territory. A few critics in his day grumbled that he laid the drama on thick, and they had a point. Still, the ambition and technical polish are hard to argue with, and the painting remains a fascinating snapshot of how a young country liked to picture itself.