Church, Frederick Edwin

Church, Frederick Edwin, 1826–1900, American landscape painter of the Hudson River school, b. Hartford, Conn., studied with Thomas Cole at Catskill, N.Y. He traveled and painted in North and South America and in Europe and excelled in panoramic scenes. He painted exotic and foreign landscapes as well as the native scenery favored by other members of the school. His large canvases are noted for the accuracy and clarity of the scenery portrayed, and for a crystalline rendering of light that links him to luminism. Notable works include Niagara (1857; Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.) and Heart of the Andes (1859; Metropolitan Mus., New York City).

See studies by G. L. Carr (1981) and F. Kelly (1989).

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