Twilight in the Wilderness, c.1860

American painter Frederic Edwin Church (1826 – 1900) fluently expressed nature’s grandeur in spectacularly lit, panoramic landscapes. From the Hudson River School, he was the first student of the movement’s famous Thomas Cole. Church approached his art scientifically, using sketches he made outdoors in preparation for the final work. Primarily focusing on North America’s natural scenery, Church also created magnificent images of tropical forests, icebergs and exploding volcanoes from his travels to South America and Europe. His work was distinguished by extraordinary clarity and a crystalline depiction of light called Luminism. His house, Olana, on the Hudson River, is now a museum.