“Twilight in the Wilderness”
For today, one of the great Hudson River School artists.
This gorgeous oil on canvas painting, titled “Twilight in the Wilderness,” is by the American Hudson River School artist, Frederic Edwin Church, from 1860. This is one of Church’s most famous landscapes.
In this painting, Church paints a brilliant sunset. The mountains loom in the distance, stark against the bright yellow sky. The water along the bottom of the canvas reflects the bright pinks, purples, and grays present in the clouds above. As was his custom, and the custom of his teacher, Thomas Cole, trees stand in the foreground flanking the view on the right and left.
This highly detailed painting is a composite piece based on sketches of landscapes made while visiting Mount Katahdin in Maine. Church painted this at his studio, Olana, in Upstate New York, two years after his trip to Maine. He purposefully painted this scenery devoid of the presence of any human. It is painted in the sublime style, showing the grandness of nature.
Critics have surmised that the red in the sunset refers to the oncoming Civil War which was to start the following year. Others have seen it as a patriotic and environmental piece, emphasizing how special and wonderful America is with much of its wilderness still intact. This piece was painted just after the onset of the industrial revolution in the United States and the American landscape was changing dramatically.
“Twilight in the Wilderness” is currently on display at The Cleveland Museum of Art, in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.
For more on Frederic Edwin Church, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
