The Rapids, Below the Suspension Bridge

Charles Bierstadt, The Rapids, Below the Suspension Bridge, ca. 1870, albumen silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1994.91.25
Copied Charles Bierstadt, The Rapids, Below the Suspension Bridge, ca. 1870, albumen silver print, sheet and image: 7 x 9 1⁄4 in. (17.8 x 23.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1994.91.25
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
The Rapids, Below the Suspension Bridge
Artist
Date
ca. 1870
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet and image: 7 x 9 1⁄4 in. (17.8 x 23.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
albumen silver print
Classifications
Keywords
  • Architecture — bridge
  • Landscape — waterfall — Niagara Falls
Object Number
1994.91.25
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1994.91.25

Artwork Description

The Niagara suspension bridge spans more than eight hundred feet above one of the wildest parts of the Niagara River. Charles Bierstadt contrasted the solid, stable bridge with the wild chaos of the unruly river. Photographed at river level, the waters seem particularly threatening, adding energy to the scene. In order to create a single balanced image, Bierstadt probably used several negatives: one for the river, another for the bridge, and a third for the dramatic, billowing clouds.


A Democracy of Images: Photographs from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2013