This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Frederic Church became a leading figure
in the Hudson River School of painters, and in the 1850s and 60s was
one of America's most famous painters. The paintings for which he
became known were landscapes conveying a serene sense of light and
space, showing nature in its pure state without the presence of human
beings.
His career rose very fast, taking off when he was in
his early twenties, but by the time he was forty, public taste had
changed, and this circumstance combined with his own ill health caused
his reputation to fall considerably.
He came from a wealthy
family and received his first art instruction from Benjamin Coe.
His primary master was Thomas Cole with whom he lived and painted in
Catskill, New York from 1844 to 1848. Church was Cole's first and
only student. However, his own style differed from Cole's in that it
was not laden with romanticism and allegory because he believed that an
artist should capture the realities of nature and focus on the
relationship between light and form.
By age 19, he made his
debut at the National Academy of Design and was elected an Associate
Member. He also set up a studio in New York City, but during this
period the Hudson River Valley came to have deep personal meaning, and
he determined to make his home there. From 1864 into the 1890s,
he frequently worked from his studio at the topmost part of his family
farm near Hudson at Bee Craft Mountain from where he had a broad
panoramic view that he often painted.
But his subject matter
went far beyond the Hudson River and Niagara Falls. He found
landscapes in South America where he first traveled in 1853, staying
for seven months, and the resulting paintings were highly acclaimed at
the National Academy. He also traveled to the Arctic, the Tropics, and
in 1867 to Europe and North Africa.
By 1877, severe rheumatism
crippled his right hand, and he attempted to paint with his left hand,
but his career was essentially curtailed. The last twenty years
of his life, seemingly forgotten as an artist, he spent at Olana, his
Moorish-style palace on the Hudson River and also traveled to Mexico
and Maine where he painted Mount Katahdin.
He died in 1900 in New York City.
Sources include:
Matthew Baigell, Dictionary of American Art
Michael David Zellman, 300 Years of American Art |
Biography from Spanierman Gallery, LLC:
| For his spectacular and panoramic paintings of the wilderness of North and South America, Frederic Edwin Church was a dominant figure in the second generation of the Hudson River School. His canvases celebrated the drama of the American frontier and expressed the expansionist and optimistic outlook of the United States in the mid-nineteenth century.
Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Church was the son of a wealthy businessman. He received his early art training from local painters Benjamin Hutchins Coe and Alexander Hamilton Emmons. In 1844, with the help of the art patron Daniel Wadsworth, he became the first pupil of the famous Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole. While studying at Cole’s studio in Catskill, New York, Church absorbed his teacher’s methods of sketching and became a proponent of his epic style of painting. Upon completing two years of training, Church moved to New York, where he established a studio in the Art-Union building.
Church was successful in New York. In 1848, he became one of the youngest artists to be elected to the status of academician at the National Academy of Design, and he was soon training pupils of his own, including Jervis McEntee and William James Stillman. In the subsequent period, Church emulated Cole’s art, painting large-scale landscapes of the Hudson River Valley and of New England. Influenced by the writings of English theorist John Ruskin, he began to paint in a more precise manner, focusing on specific effects of weather and atmosphere. He was also inspired by the writings of Alexander von Humboldt, a German naturalist-explorer.
Church gradually began to take a more scientific approach to nature, using sketches he had created in the outdoors in the preparation of his canvases. In 1853, he became the first American artist to visit South America. Accompanying Cyrus Field, who later gained renown for his participation in the transatlantic cable project, Church followed Humboldt’s 1802 route from Colombia to Ecuador. Along the way, Church drew from nature, producing the drawings that became the basis for important canvases depicting exotic subjects such as "The Cordilleras: Sunrise" (1855; Private Collection).
When his works received high praise, Church set off on a second expedition in 1857. On this sojourn, he traveled to Ecuador with the landscape painter Louis Remy Mignot. It was on this trip that he was able to concentrate on the scenery of the Andes, and he filled diaries and sketchbooks with records of the vegetation and the countryside.
Characterized by vast vistas and atmospheric detail, the works that resulted from this sojourn demonstrate Church’s unique approach. Among the great triumphs of the artist’s career was "Heart of the Andes" (1859; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), in which Church captured the essence of the tropics. Another significant product of this period in the artist’s career was "Niagara" (1857; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), which established Church as the leading interpreter of the American spirit.
During the 1860s, Church continued to travel, seeking subject matter for his paintings. He continued to produce visions of the tropics such as "Twilight in the Wilderness" (1860; Cleveland Museum of Art) and "Cotopaxi" (1862; The Detroit Institute of Arts) until 1867, when he took a year and a half trip to Europe and the Middle East.
He first spent six months in London and Paris, and then continued on to Alexandria, Beirut, Constantinople, Baalbeck, Petra, and Jerusalem. Due to his fascination with ancient civilizations, he also visited Naples, Paestum, and Greece. On his return, he stopped in London, in order to study the works of Turner. The results of this trip were numerous oil sketches and drawings that he used for a series of paintings including "The Parthenon" (1871; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and "Jerusalem" from the Mount of Olives (1870; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri).
By 1880, Church’s painting activity was curtailed due to ill health, and in 1883, rheumatism crippled his right arm and hand. In 1890, he settled at Olana, his grand villa near Hudson, New York, which had been designed for him in the Persian and Moorish styles by the architect Calvert Vaux in 1870. The house, which is preserved as a museum today, reflected Church’s eclectic interests and his travels, including exotic furnishings and decorative objects. The artist adorned the walls with works by the Old Masters, especially landscapes by Claude Lorrain and Salvator Rosa. Although he spent the winters of his last years in Mexico, Church spent most of the final phase of his life at Olana. He died in New York City. |
Biography from William A. Karges Fine Art - Beverly Hills:
| Frederic Church was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1826, to a wealthy family who encouraged his artistic interests. Church’s primary art instruction was with the Hudson River School master Thomas Cole, with whom he spent four years. Church was Cole’s first and last student.
Church’s works were dramatic Hudson River-style paintings of the unspoiled landscape, often heroic and “lit from within” suggesting the presence of a higher power. Church began a successful exhibition history by showing at the National Academy of Design at the age of 19.
Church established a home and studio overlooking the Hudson River, a frequent source of inspiration. He was also an avid traveler, having taken his vision to South America. His epic tropical visions from this trip were highly acclaimed upon his return to New York.
Church’s career was cut short when rheumatism crippled his right hand in 1877. He died in New York in 1900. |
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Frederic Church is also mentioned in these AskART essays:
Hudson River School Painters
Painted in Latin America
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