Go West, Young Artist - Colorado

Why do you like the Plains so much?

"Everyone like mountains! The power! The drama! Artists like my friend Bierstadt are drawn to the mountains.

"But I prefer painting the open spaces and calm skies of the Plains.

Worthington Whittredge, Twilight on the Plains, Platte River, Colorado,

In his own words:
"I have never seen the plains or anything like them. They impressed me deeply. I cared more for them than for the mountains, and very few of my Western pictures have been produced from sketches made in the mountains, but rather from those made on the plains with mountains in the distance. Whoever crossed the plains at that period could hardly fail to be impressed with its vastness and silence and the appearance everywhere of an innocent, primitive existence."
-Worthington Whittredge

"I admit that Bierstadt and I both paint mountains in the background, but his mountains loom strong and powerful—an imposing force towering over the foreground. My mountains are hidden in the haze. Perhaps the greatest difference is that I show a vast expanse of sky, whereas Bierstadt blocks most of the sky with his mountains.

"Furthermore, as a Luminist, I emphasize the natural lighting of the scene. The lighting in this painting is realistic—not the dramatic and unlikely lighting of Mr. Bierstadt’s works.

"The public often comments on how I recreate the feeling of a wide-open space. Perhaps what I can best teach you are the value of...

format
and
horizon line.

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