Heart of the Andes
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
66 1/8 x 120 3/16 in. (168 x 302.9cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Margaret E. Dows, 1909
Accession Number
09.95
Tags
Art Historical Context
Frederic Edwin Church's *Heart of the Andes (1859) is a monumental oil on canvas masterpiece from the Hudson River School, 19th-century American movement celebrating the sublime beauty of nature Measuring over 10 feet wide, this panoramic landscape captures the lush, untamed wilderness of the South American Andes, where Church traveled twice to sketch en plein air. Inspired by Romantic ideals, it reflects a growing American fascination with exotic locales amid expanding global exploration. The painting's intricate details—towering misty mountains, cascading waterfalls, dense forests, and wind...
About the Artist
Frederic Edwin Church · 1826–1900
Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900), born in Hartford, Connecticut, to a prosperous silversmith and banker father, Joseph Church, pursued art from youth thanks to his family's wealth. At age 18, introduced by patron Daniel Wadsworth, he studied under Thomas Cole in Catskill, New York, from 1844 to 1846, sketching across New England and earning Cole's praise for possessing "the finest eye for drawing...