🏔️ What makes a painting worth $25,000 in 1865—nearly $400,000 today?

This breathtaking masterpiece by Albert Bierstadt captures the untamed spirit of the American frontier. The German-born artist painted Lander's Peak with such luminous detail that it became the most expensive American artwork of its time.

Bierstadt was brilliant at marketing too—he cleverly named the mountain after Civil War hero Colonel Frederick Lander only after his heroic death, adding patriotic appeal to an already stunning landscape. 🎨

There's something about those golden peaks and misty valleys that makes you pause, breathe deeper, and dream of adventure. This is the kind of art that transforms a room into a window to another world.