frederic edwin church icebergs wreck sunset

#Frederic edwin church icebergs wreck sunset series

Details on the right side of the painting We believe that the very first independent figure of climate to be found in poetry is the strange mention of the treasures of the snow, and hail, and the frozen deep, in the Book of Job, while the first independent landscapes, as distinguished from old conventional backgrounds… But apart from this natural fascination of subject, the “Arctic View” is admirable from so many points of strictest criticism, and indicates such an exhaustive study of scientific truths as applied to Art, that we may well despair of giving a fully coordinate resume of the whole. They strike the most common-place observer as suggesting subjects for copy. It could hardly fail to be attractive,-the motive being given even in the hands of an artist of less ability,-for there is something singularly inviting to all brothers of the easel in ice and snow views. We may as well premise, fairly and squarely, that we consider this Arctic scene a first-class painting. On March 29, 1861, The New York Times published a review of the painting and likely many of the art-appreciators of the city who would be in uniform within a few weeks went to admire the work.

When it was first created, the piece capstoned the recent monthlong trip that Church had made into the North Atlantic. The large image measures 64.5 inches by 112.5 inches and covers a large wall in the American Art Gallery. In 1861, Frederic Edwin Church displayed his painting “The Icebergs” or the “Arctic View” in New York City.

#Frederic edwin church icebergs wreck sunset series

Hopefully, the short series this week with photos and my cultural research notes will be informative as we try to understand the art that was viewed or inspired by 1860’s…)

Some pieces were created or displayed during the war years, others have ties to the war because of the artist or subject. While wandering through the galleries, I kept finding interesting pieces of art with ties to the Civil War.

The work reveals the artist’s continued fascination with the panoramic possibilities of the falls and his ongoing search for novel ways to depict the iconic national landmark.(A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the Dallas Museum of Art in Texas. Niagara is a highly finished study, executed with great control and detail, including smaller elements such as the wood bridge that leads to the Terrapin Tower. Church uses a palette of light blue, sea foam green, white, and brown with swiftly executed masterful brushstrokes. The rock formations, engulfed in mist, are striking, as is the flow of water cascading over the edge of the falls. In his sweeping panorama, the artist, and by extension the viewer, is positioned in the water, looking up at Horseshoe Falls and the Terrapin Tower, built in 1833 on the brink of the falls. Church painted this exquisite on-site oil study of the Horseshoe Falls section of Niagara Falls, from the Canadian side, most likely during his trip in August, 1858. Having been introduced to the on-sight oil sketch by his teacher Thomas Cole, he would practice it throughout his lifetime, commenting to Cole, 'of all employments, I think it most delightful.' Church’s close observations of nature, seen in Niagara, represent a challenge to earlier models of landscape art that insisted on symbolic unity, and instead offers a discourse with current scientific knowledge. The nineteenth century was the great age of the plein-air oil sketch and American artist Frederic Church was among the most accomplished and prolific exponents of the medium.