Gnarled Tree and Weed, Obersee, Germany
Medium
drawing
Classification
drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Louis P. Church
Accession Number
1917-4-307
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
In the summer of 1868, landscape master Frederic Edwin Church ventured to Obersee, Germany—a picturesque Bavarian village nestled by the serene Königssee lake. There, he captured *Gnarled Tree and*, a delicate drawing that showcases his keen eye for nature's raw, resilient forms. Church, a leading figure in the Hudson River School, was renowned for his luminous, detailed depictions of the American wilderness, but this European sojourn reflects his broader wanderlust and health-seeking travels amid struggles with rheumatoid arthritis. As a preparatory sketch in an unspecified medium, the work ...