No member of the Hudson River school, probably, imbibed so much of the
qualities of the Dusseldorf masters as did Bierstadt. He chose for his
big canvases panoramas from impressive scenes in Yellowstone Park and in
the Rockies. He attempted to give the illusion of reality to these by a
minutely detailed rendition of foreground, while the subject itself, with
his favorite lowering clouds and romantic haze, was to produce the desired
grandeur. The result made his paintings popular in America of his own
time; but today his grandeur seems a little theatrical.
[The Conch Divers. Winslow Homer, 1836-1910]