Two Icebergs, Canada
JuneâJuly 1859
Medium
seascapes
Classification
seascapes
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Louis P. Church
Accession Number
1917-4-290-a
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
**Two Icebergs, Canada** Frederic Edwin Church, leading figure of the Hudson River School captured the sublime power of nature in this 1859 oil seascape. Painted during his summer expedition to Labrador and the Canadian Arctic in June–July, the work depicts a pair of majestic icebergs adrift in frigid waters, reflecting Church's fascination with dramatic natural phenomena. As an American artist (1826–1900), Church was renowned for his meticulous studies of light, atmosphere, and vast, blending Romanticism with precise observation to evoke awe and the divine in the American wilderness. Churc...