Sunset of the Prairies 

Albert Bierstadt painted ‘Sunset of the Prairies’ with oil on paper sometime during his career, before his death in 1902. Bierstadt was part of the Hudson River School, known for its romantic depictions of the American landscape. This painting invites us to consider how the myth of the American West was constructed. In Bierstadt’s rendering, we see a vast, seemingly untouched landscape bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun. Two figures on horseback become small in comparison to the natural environment. These figures, presumably indigenous people, are romanticized as noble inhabitants of the land, yet the painting elides the violence of westward expansion and the displacement of native populations. Bierstadt’s landscapes contributed to a narrative of American exceptionalism and manifest destiny, obscuring the complex histories and experiences of those who already lived there. The sublime beauty of the sunset hides the troubling history of the landscape it illuminates.