MMA American Wing Frederic Church Oil Sketches
https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18195477/
- brush and oil paint on paperboard
- Gift of Louis P. Church
“Icebergs, to the imaginative soul,” reflects Noble, “have a kind of individuality and life. They startle, frighten, awe; they astonish, excite, amuse, delight, and fascinate; clouds, mountains and structures, angels, demons, animals and men spring to the view of the beholder.”
For Church and Noble, the icebergs’ reflection of “every condition of atmosphere, and every amount of light and shadow” inspired awe. Sunset was a particularly dramatic opportunity that both Church and Noble relished. Noble writes, “If you would behold perfect brilliancy, gaze at the crest of an iceberg cutting sharply into [the] red heavens.” Eager to create opportunities to observe icebergs under different lighting conditions, Church and his companions once launched a flaming tar barrel over the side of their rowboat to illuminate an iceberg after dark.