Oil on canvas
64 3/8 x 112 1/2 in. (163.51 x 285.75 cm.)
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, anonymous gift
> Artist's biography |
The Icebergs, Church's grandest and most original work, was developed from studies made off the
coast of Newfoundland (Canada) in 1859.
Critics were extravagant in their praise for this painting when it was first exhibited in New York in 1861;
one described it as 'the most splendid work of art that has yet been produced in this country'.
Church was rigorous in his attempts to achieve truth to nature.
The foreground is wet and glistening because it has risen from under the water; the changing level of the sea has
left horizontal stains on the main iceberg.
The brilliant blue veins in the iceberg are caused by water frozen in the cracks of a glacier.
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Room 7: Explorations
Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900)