The Last of the Buffalo

Albert Bierstadt

1888 · Oil on canvas · National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order — or upgrade to Express ($14.9) at checkout. Most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days (Express 2–4).

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

The Last of the Buffalo

A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie

Among the Sierra Nevada, California

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

Choose different prints →

Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Ships worldwide in 3–6 business days after production

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

Secure checkout via Stripe

About this work

Artist: Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902)
Year: 1888
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 180.3 × 301 cm
Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Movement: Hudson River School

A mounted hunter confronts a charging buffalo while dead and wounded animals lie across a dry golden meadow and herds beyond cross a river and graze away to the horizon, under mesas and snow-capped peaks. Elk, pronghorn, coyote, fox, rabbits and a prairie dog populate the foreground; buffalo skulls litter the ground. Bierstadt painted this, his last great Western canvas, in 1888 at the size of his first, Lake Lucerne, combining elements sketched on many trips. By then the buffalo had been reduced from some thirty million to about a thousand, and the limitless herds are a conscious fiction, a lament for what settlement had destroyed as much as a celebration of the hunt. It was shown at the Paris Salon of 1889. The Corcoran Gallery acquired it in 1909 and it passed to the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 2014.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

A charging buffalo, a mounted hunter and herds to the horizon across a golden meadow, a wide Western picture for a den, study or lodge-style living room at 24×36 in black. An ochre, sage or warm grey wall; it suits leather and timber.

Style: Exhibition poster of a Hudson River School painting
Era: 19th century (1888)
Orientation: Portrait
Palette: cream & beige
Mood: classic
Rooms: living room, dining room, dorm room, hallway or entryway
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.

Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; 12×18 and 16×24 and 24×36 also available framed in black or natural wood • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Produced in 2–4 business days, then shipped from the facility nearest you. Delivery is typically 3–6 business days (US/UK/EU) and 5–12 worldwide. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is The Last of the Buffalo in the public domain?

Yes. Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by National Gallery of Art.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; the two larger sizes are also offered framed. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was The Last of the Buffalo painted, and in what medium?

The Last of the Buffalo dates from 1888 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 180.3 × 301 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

For a standard three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 inches reads as a single statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pairing. The print's proportions follow the original, so a landscape-format painting is wider than it is tall.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Albert Bierstadt's The Last of the Buffalo — The Last of the Buffalo — a mounted hunter and a charging bull amid a vast herd on the plains — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. The American West, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Three sizes (12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in); the 16×24 and 24×36 are also offered framed. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days.

Secure checkout. Payments handled by Stripe; we never see or store your card.

Also available as