![]() ![]() ![]() 1859 Armory Hall, New Orleans, March-May 1859, no catalogue. 1858 Williams, Stevens & Williams, New York, September-December 1858, no catalogue. 1858 Washington, D.C., December 1858-January 1859, no catalogue. 1858 Samson Cariss and Co., Baltimore, December-December 1858, no catalogue. Grundy’s Gallery, Church Street, Liverpool, July 1858, no catalogue. 1858 Manchester, England, June-July 1858, no catalogue. 1858 James McClure and Son Gallery, Glasgow, June 1858, no catalogue. 1858 German Gallery, London, April-May 1858, no catalogue. 1857 Williams, Stevens and Williams, New York, May 1857, unnumbered catalogue, as The Great Fall, Niagara. 1857 Tenth-Street Studio Building, New York, May 1857, no. Within two weeks, Niagara had lured 100,000 visitors to glimpse what one newspaper critic described as "the finest oil picture ever painted on this side of the Atlantic." Following its phenomenal success in New York, the painting was exhibited in major cities along the eastern seaboard, made two tours of Britain, and was included in the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris.Įxhibition History 1857 Lloyd's Gallery, Gracechurch Street, London, June-August 1857, no catalogue. The admission price also included a pamphlet reprinting critics' praises of the canvas and offered exhibition-goers the opportunity to purchase a chromolithograph of the painting. The 25-cent admission allowed each visitor to view the monumental canvas, sometimes using binoculars or other optical aids to enhance the experience. As one writer enthusiastically noted, "this is Niagara, with the roar left out!"Ĭritics and public alike marveled at the painting, which debuted in a one-painting exhibition at a New York City gallery shortly after its completion. ![]() Most notably, he eliminated any suggestion of a foreground, allowing the viewer to experience the scene as if precariously positioned on the brink of the falls. Moreover, he pushed the plane of the falls nearest the viewer significantly downward to reveal more of the far side as well as the dramatic rush of water. He heightened the illusion of reality by selecting a non-traditional format of canvas with a width twice as wide as its height to convey the panoramic expanse of the scene. He was the first to render the spectacle on such a grand scale, with such fine detail, naturalism, and immediacy. Church's majestic 1857 canvas reveals the vista from the Canadian shore, based on oil and pencil sketches he had made during several visits to the site in 1856. Widely considered the nation's greatest natural wonder as well as a symbol of its youthful vigor and promise, the site was also deemed far superior to any natural phenomenon in Europe. In the 19th century, many American artists attempted to capture the power and beauty of Niagara Falls. Similarly, the acquisition of Niagara by the young Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1876 secured the institution's reputation and inspired other major artists to seek representation in the collection. Pissaro went on to live in France and become one of the founders of Impressionism.Niagara's tremendous success both in the United States and abroad established Frederic Edwin Church's reputation as the most famous American painter of his time. The two spent several years together in the 1850s in the Caribbean and Venezuela. This collection consists of some 450 works, mainly by Melbye but it also includes several dozen by Camille Pissaro, a student and friend of Melybe. Research has revealed that the peripatetic Melbye died on a trip to China in 1869 and he apparently left a cache of drawings with his friend Church. The two shared an interest in South America, where each had traveled, and they went to Jamaica together in 1865. ![]() Highlights include scenes of Egypt by Francis Frith, South American and Mexican ruins by Désiré Charnay, and images issued by the Palestine Exploration Fund.įrederic Church was a friend of a Danish artist named Fritz Melbye. Most photograph documents exotic locales and peoples. Olana has some 2,000 photographs dating from earliest commercially-produced prints to deluxe folio-sized prints from the turn of the century. These artworks can be viewed at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, now part of the Smithsonian Institution.įrederic Church, and perhaps Isabel and their children, were also interested in photography. Many years after Church’s death, his son Louis, who had inherited Olana, donated some 2,000 sketches by Church to the Cooper Union Museum. 1870-1875, oil and graphite on paper, 4 3/8 x 18 inches, Olana State Historic Site, OL.1977.202 “Evening Clouds above the Catskills,” by Frederic Edwin Church, c. ![]()
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