Twilight in the Wilderness

1860

Frederic Edwin Church

(American, 1826–1900)

Culture

America

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

Unframed: 101.6 x 162.6 cm (40 x 64 in.); Framed: 124 x 185 x 13 cm (48 13/16 x 72 13/16 x 5 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1965.233

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

206 American Landscape

Did You Know?

An image of this painting has a cameo in the Harrison Ford film Clear and Present Danger.

Description

In his New York studio, Church painted this spectacular view of a blazing sunset over wilderness near Mount Katahdin in Maine, which he had sketched during a visit nearly two years earlier. Although Church often extolled the grandeur of American landscape in his work, this painting appears to have additional overtones. Created on the eve of the Civil War, the painting's subject can be interpreted as symbolically evoking the coming conflagration. Church's considerable technical skills and clever showmanship contributed to his fame as the premier artist of his generation. Rather than debut this painting in an annual exhibition with works by other artists as was the custom, Church instead exhibited it by itself at a prestigious art gallery. Coaxed by advance publicity and highly favorable press reviews, several hundred spectators flocked to admire it during its seven-week run.