In November 1866, at the pinnacle of his career, Albert Bierstadt married into the Osborn family of Waterville, New York, a village in Oneida County not far from Utica. Bierstadt’s bride Rosalie was the daughter of Amos Osborn, a prominent lawyer in the region [1]. Until her death in 1893, the couple would lead a glamorous life together, traveling widely with sojourns in Europe and in California. When resident in New York, they entertained at Malkasten, the lavish studio house on the Hudson River at Irvington built by Bierstadt just before their marriage [2]. By 1877, Rosalie’s health was already in decline and she began to spend winters in the Bahamas where Albert joined her periodically, painting tropical scenery and courting patrons [3].

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

[1] The family name is spelled variously Osborn and Osborne. We have used Osborn in keeping with the spelling used during Rosalie’s lifetime.

[2] For Malkasten, see Ferber in Anderson and Ferber 1990, pp. 34-39.

[3] “The Utica Herald and Daily Gazette,” September 17, 1874 quoted in Gordon L. Hendricks, Albert Bierstadt: Painter of the American West (NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1973), 236-237.