Home / Artworks / Twilight in the Wilderness
Twilight in the Wilderness
Frederic Edwin Church, 1860
Church painted this view of a blazing sunset in his New York studio, based on sketches he had made near Mount Katahdin in Maine almost two years before. The Cleveland Museum of Art says that although he often praised the grandeur of the American landscape, this picture seems to carry extra meaning. Made on the eve of the Civil War, it may symbolically suggest the coming conflagration.
The museum credits Church's technical skill and showmanship for his fame as the leading artist of his generation. The canvas is about 102 by 163 centimetres without its frame, wide enough to fill the view.
The sky is the real subject, with bands of fiery orange, yellow and green above a dark foreground.
From the museum record
| Artist | Frederic Edwin Church |
|---|---|
| Date | 1860 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Size | Unframed: 101.6 x 162.6 cm |
| Museum | The Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Credit line | Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund |
| Accession number | 1965.233 |
| Licence | Open Access (CC0) |
Source: The Cleveland Museum of Art collection record. Facts such as dates, sizes and credit lines come from that record. The write-up above was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the museum record and standard references. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
