Frederic Edwin Church: Humboldt’s Painter in the Andes

Abstract

On April 27th, 1859, The Studio Building of New York unveils the feature exhibition of the season: The Heart of the Andes, an oil on canvas painted by Frederic Church, produced after his second trip to South America in 1857. He made sketches and studies in situ, and also wrote, in rudimentary Spanish, a Diary recording his experience. Traveling to South America under the influence of Humboldt seeking inspiration and artistic recognition was vital for Church’s artistic style and career. The exhibition was a success, attracting 12.000 people in three weeks before its grand European touring. In this article I would like to explore the relationship between art, science and nature, and the concept of heroic landscape painting coined by Humboldt, in Church’s New World canvases.