Notice

Great Hall will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from September 10 - November 20, and December 3, 4, 10 and 11. 

The Wolf River, Kansas

Albert Bierstadt American, 1830-1902
Not On View
  • About the Artwork

    Please note: This section is empty

  • Markings

    Please note: This section is empty

    This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.

  • Provenance

    Please note: This section is empty

    Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

    For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

    Provenance page
  • Exhibition History

    Please note: This section is empty

    The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

    We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

    Suggest Feedback
  • Published References

    Please note: This section is empty

    We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

    Suggest Feedback
  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Please note: This section is empty

    A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.

  • Credit Line for Reproduction

    Please note: This section is empty

    The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Two American fur traders on horseback are about to enter an encampment of Kaw families in what is now northeastern Kansas. The tranquility of the scene suggests a peaceful and mutually productive trade relationship. But Albert Bierstadt, like most of his contemporaries, knew that as European American settlers pushed westward they forced Indigenous Americans to change their way of life — often through violence. Many, including the Kaw, were forcibly removed from their land.

The Wolf River, Kansas

ca. 1859

Albert Bierstadt

1830-1902

American

Unknown

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 48 1/4 × 38 1/4 inches (122.6 × 97.2 cm) Framed: 61 5/16 × 51 1/2 × 5 1/8 inches (155.7 × 130.8 × 13 cm)

Paintings

American Art before 1950

Founders Society Purchase, Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. Fund

61.28

Copyright Not Evaluated

Markings

Signed, lower right: A. Bierstadt

Provenance

Vose Galleries (Boston, Massachusetts, USA).
Kennedy Galleries (New York, New York, USA).
1961-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

The Kennedy Quarterly 1, 2 (April 1960): pp. 30-31 (fig. 33).

Bulletin of the DIA 40, 3-4 (1960-1961): pp. 52-53 (ill.).

Kansiensiana. Exh. cat., University of Kansas Museum of Art. Lawrence, KS, 1961, no. 17.

Hendricks, Gordon. “The First Three Western Journeys of Albert Beirstadt.” The Art Bulletin 46, 3 (September 1964): pp. 333-365 (fig. 7).

Lindquist-Cock, Elizabeth. “Stereoscopic Photography and the Western Painting of Albert Bierstadt.” Art Quarterly 33, 4 (1970): pp. 360-378 (ill.).

Hendricks, G. A. Bierstadt. Exh. cat., Amon Carter Museum. Fort Worth, 1972, p. 13, no. 17 (ill.).

_____________. Albert Bierstadt: Painter of the American West. New York, 1973, p. 82 (fig. 63).

Rivard, N.J. “American Paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts.” Antiques 114 (November 1978): pp. 1044-1055 (pl. 6).

“Family Art Game.” DIA Advertising Supplement. Detroit Free Press (May 20, 1979): p. 14 (ill.).

“Family Art Game.” DIA Advertising Supplement. Detroit News (April 29, 1984): p. 5 (ill.).

Nottage, James H. Prairie Visions: Art of the American West. Exh. cat., Kansas Museum of History. Topeka, 1985, p. 10.

Stein, R.B. “Packaging the Great Plains: The Role of the Visual Arts.” Great Plains Quarterly 5, 1 (1985): pp. 5-23 (fig. 3).

Ferber, Linda and Nancy Anderson. Albert Bierstadt: Art and Enterprise. New York, 1990, p. 153, no. 16 (ill.).

Albert Bierstadt: Art and Enterprise. Exh. cat., The Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn, 1991, p. 153, no. 16.

Hassrick, Peter H. "Art, Agency, and Conservation." Montana: The Magazine of Western History 68, no. 1 (Spring 2018): pp. 8-9 (fig. 6).

Hassrick, Peter H. Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West. Exh. cat., Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Cody, 2018, pp. 88, 90 (fig 2.60).

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Albert Bierstadt, The Wolf River, Kansas, ca. 1859, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. Fund, 61.28.

The Wolf River, Kansas
The Wolf River, Kansas