Albert Bierstadt’s Boats, 1879, is the product of a grand tour. The Bierstadts spent most of 1878 and 1879 abroad. The artist settled Rosalie in luxurious comfort on the Riviera before going traveling in search of subjects. The triangular lateen sails in Boats suggest a Mediterranean setting. They also remind us that Bierstadt excelled as a marine and maritime painter. Raised in a New England whaling port, it is not surprising that he was adept at the portrayal of vessels in coastal and ocean waters. His early European studies also honed his skills in painting the incidental genre episodes associated with the maritime tradition. All are evident in this exceptional plein-air study of seven boats on calm waters with sails silhouetted against an overcast but radiant sky. These are working craft portrayed in nautical detail with their mended sails and hanging nets; all manned by lively figures going about their business. One imagines the artist with his paint box open depicting Boats out of doors with deliberate care and precision, capturing the details of vessels afloat on foreign waters.


—Linda S. Ferber, excerpt from "Small but Sublime: Albert Bierstadt Cabinet Paintings and Oil Studies," 2024