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| Frederic Edwin Church 1857 [Niagara] |
An American artist Frederic Edwin Church's large [Niagara] was very well received both by art critics and public when it was completed in 1857. After its completion, it held a rare one- painting exhibition at a New York gallery with 25 cent admission tag and more than 100,000 visitors flocked to see [Niagara] within two weeks of the opening. It was also included in the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris.
The 1859 July issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine wrote, "The 'Niagara' of Mr. Church is probably more widely known and admired in this country than any other picture ever painted in America."
Canadian author Pierre Berton went even further on his book, "Niagara: A History of the Falls", published in 1992, writing,"Of the hundreds of paintings made of Niagra, before Church and after him, this is by common consent the greatest."
[Niagara] was purchased by Cocoran Gallery of Art in 1876 for US $125,000 at an aution and it was a record for a painting by an American artist.
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| Frederic Edwin Church 1862 [Study for "Under Niagara"] |
Frederic Edwin Church completed three major paintings of Niagara Falls in large scale. The first one is [Niagara], currently at National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, was completed in 1857, whose overall size is 101.6 × 229.9 cm (40 × 90 1/2 in.). The second painting is [Under Niagara], which was completed in 1862, but it is now lost or whereabouts are unknown. We know what it looks like as [Study for Under Niagara] and lithographs were survived. Below is [Study for Under Niagara], completed in 1862.
The third in the series, [Niagara Falls, from the American Side], which was completed in 1867, was the largest Church's painting ever. The overall size is 257.50 x 227.30 cm. The painting is currently at Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland. Church's 1867 [Niagara Falls, from the American Side] is the only major example of Church's work in a European public collection according to the Gallery.
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| Frederic Edwin Church 1867 [Niagara Falls, from the American Side] Scottish National Gallery |
