Over the period 1870 to 1945 the American West became an increasingly popular
sketching ground for eastern artists. The first arrivals were view-painters
like Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran whose panoramic paintings, reproduced
as chromolithographs, brought the unimagined majesty of the Rockies and
Sierras to a broad eastern audience. They were followed by reportorial
artists such as Frederic Remington and the photographer Edward Curtis intent
on preserving artistically and romantically the disappearing frontier and
Native American culture. As artists became residents of the west in the early
20th century, their perspective changed, with tidbits of local color
replacing the grandiose prospect.
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