Frederic Edwin Church Captures the Pounding Presence of Niagara Falls

19th-century landscape artist gives heavenly glow to natural treasure

Detail of “Niagara Falls From the American Side,” 1867, by Frederic Edwin Church. Oil on canvas; 101 inches by 89 inches. Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland. Public Domain

Like other landscape artists of the Hudson River School, Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900) painted wild scenes of the new land: an American wilderness that most people had never seen for themselves. Church worked with such attention to detail that his paintings mesmerized the society of his day.

A photographic portrait of Frederic Edwin Church, 1826, by Brady-Handy. Library of Congress. Public Domain