Two Landscape Sketches with Trees and Mountains (from Sketchbook) 1890

This graphite sketch, made by Albert Bierstadt, is a window into 19th-century artistic practice. It's important to remember that the graphite stick itself is an artifact of mass production, created by industrial processes of extraction, refinement, and distribution. The artist is using the inherent qualities of the material: its softness, its ability to leave a trace on paper with minimal pressure. This allowed for quick and precise preliminary studies en plein air. We see how he rapidly mapped out the terrain and established tonal values, capturing the essential elements of the landscape to guide the creation of larger paintings back in the studio. In those finished works, Bierstadt romanticized the American West, feeding a popular appetite for landscape imagery that encouraged settlement and resource extraction. This little sketch is a reminder that even the most seemingly innocent artwork is tied to wider social issues of labor, politics, and consumption.