The boulder and ice around the grotto are painted with impasto, while Church otherwise conceals his brushstrokes. The boulder symbolizes the geological debates of the day on the theory of “continental lift.” It serves as a reminder that the iceberg once had contact with the land. The boulder rests on the ice shelf above the grotto and stains the ice with a rust color. The afternoon sun casts shadows in blues, purples, and pinks, and the ice and water interact in complex reflections, especially by the grotto.Ī marooned ship’s mast point to a boulder and grotto. The Icebergs’ play of light is highly detailed. His 1859 voyage to the North Atlantic around Newfoundland and Labrador inspired this composition. “The Icebergs” by Frederic Edwin Church is an imaginative depiction of composite views and many sketches to convey an ice-based landscape painting. This work used tones of ochre, brown, gray going to blue or green, and green. The ship’s safe passage through the dark and harsh Arctic environment and American destiny is symbolized by a minute light shining out from one of the ship’s windows.Ĭhurch used small touches of pigment built together through thin applications to ensure that the viewer does not notice the different paint strokes. The ship’s details were drawn from a sketch Hayes had brought back upon returning from the expedition.Īmong the vastness of nature, the tiny ship named “United States” highlighted America’s achievements and American optimism to navigate its future global role. The painting’s mountain peak was named after Church during an important American Arctic expedition represented by the dwarfed ship. The painting includes personal and nationalist symbolism and references. “Aurora Borealis” by Frederic Edwin Church depicts the Aurora Borealis and the Arctic expedition of Isaac Israel Hayes. The white foam near the trunk has a thicket paint dimension on an otherwise smooth canvas. The only foreground object is a floating tree trunk with tree roots that provide a sense of scale. “Niagara” is highly naturalistic and brings the viewer to the falls’ lip, highlighting the cascading waters by painting in streams of water and cloudy mists. The canvas’s unusual proportions with a width of 2.3 meters (7 ft 7 in), makes it more than twice as wide as it is high and delivers a composition that leads the eye laterally.

This panoramic view from the Niagara Falls’ Canadian side is dramatic and unique and immerses the viewer into the scene. Niagara” by Frederic Edwin Church depicts Horseshoe Falls, the largest and most iconic of Niagara’s three waterfalls. In the distance lie classical ruins that resemble the Acropolis of Athens or the Temple of Apollo in Ancient Corinth, and the dome and minaret of a mosque from Istanbul. Included in the “The Aegean Sea” are the rock-cut entrance from Petra, the fallen capitals from the Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek, and Roman columns from Syria. The composite image includes elements from sketches that Church made in different locations. This artwork was inspired by Church’s travels to Europe and the Middle East from 1867 to 1869. In this painting, the artist places together buildings, archaeological ruins, and other structural elements in fictional combinations. “The Aegean Sea” by Frederic Edwin Church is a capriccio, which means an architectural fantasy. The American artist, Church, visited Greece in 1869 and spent several weeks in Athens, where he made numerous studies of the ruins of the Parthenon that later served as the basis for this 1871 work. It also reflects the scene after the removal of many of its surviving sculptures between 1800 to 1803 by Lord Elgin, who sold them to the British Museum. This painting was made after it had suffered its worst damage in 1687 when a Turkish gunpowder magazine located within the Temple exploded after a direct hit by the Venetian besieging army. The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece, between 447 and 432 B.C. “The Parthenon” by Frederic Edwin Church is a large 1871 painting of the Parthenon. Highlights Tour of Frederic Edwin Church The Parthenon Church’s paintings emphasized realistic detail, dramatic light, and panoramic views.ĭuring his time, he was one of the most famous painters in the United States. He is best known for painting vast landscapes, often depicting mountains, waterfalls, and sunsets. Frederic Edwin Church (1826 – 1900) was an American landscape painter who was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters.

Frederic church paintings