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Church, Homer and Moran
Frederic Church, Winslow Homer and Thomas Moran:
Tourism and the American Landscape
Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
January 30 - May 4, 2008
Paint your country!
What would you do? Would your subject be buildings? People? Landscapes?
Frederic Church, Thomas Moran and Winslow Homer each were drawn to paint their views of the American landscape. Their country,
forever recorded in their unique styles.
Frederic Edwin Church
Title: Sunset across the Hudson Valley, New York, 1870
Artist: Frederic Edwin Church (American 1826-1900)
Medium: Brush and oil paint, graphite on thin cream color paperboard
Dimensions: 17 5/8 x 23 3/4 inches
Permanent Collection: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Image Courtesy: Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
A good friend of Thomas Cole and part of the Hudson River School of artists, Church was once the most famous painter
in his homeland thanks to his view of Niagara Falls captured in Niagara. His travels extended beyond the United States into
South America and beyond. He was equally at home painting the beautiful Hudson Valley or icebergs or volcanoes bringing his
exceptional eye for detail to his output.
Winslow Homer
Title: Study for Mountain Climber Resting, 1868-1869
Artist: Winslow Homer (American 1836-1910)
Medium: Black and white crayon on brown laid paper
Dimensions: 15 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches
Permanent Collection: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Image Courtesy: Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
"When I have selected the thing carefully, I paint it exactly as it appears", explained Winslow Homer
A background in journalistic illustration certainly explains, in some degree, Homer's attention to detail . While Manet's work
impressed him when he saw it in Paris, he took the Impressionistic use of light in a different direct. Light and shadow
didn't obscure or blur forms it brought them into a crisper view with a clear outline and and district yet large
swathes of light and dark.
Title: Man with a Knapsack, 1873
Artist: Winslow Homer (American 1836-1910)
Medium: Brush and oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: 22 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches
Permanent Collection: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Photo: Matt Flynn, courtesy Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Image Courtesy: Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
Marine landscapes are most closely associated with Winslow Homer. That doesn't begin to cover all of his
works. Early in his career he was a freelance illustrator for Harper's Weekly, who sent him to the front
lines of the American Civil War to record the soldiers both in battle and in camp.
Title: White Mountain Wagon, 1869
Artist: Winslow Homer (American 1836-1910)
Medium: Brush and oil paint on wood panel
Dimensions: 11 3/4 x 15 13/16 inches
Permanent Collection: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Image Courtesy: Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
Farm life was a popular subject with the American artist, during the 1870s he focused on rural scenes
of Americana. Originally known as an oil painter, he switched to watercolors, which he used in his travels,
bringing to life the images observed on his working vacations.
Thomas Moran
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Title: Toltec Gorge, Colorado, 1881
Artist: Thomas Moran (American 1837-1926)
Medium: Brush and black, brown, and blue ink washes, white gouache, graphite on tan wove paper
Dimensions: 19 3/4 x 15 5/8 inches
Permanent Collection: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Image Courtesy: Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
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Moran's detailed works like Toltec Gorge, Colorado, sparked interest when he brought them back
East for his exhibitions, sparking interest in New Englanders to see these beautiful places for themselves.
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Currently an exhibit at the Cantor Arts Center, celebrates these three American artistic heroes. It focuses
on their renditions of American landscape during the end of the 19th Century, with the early development of
a tourist industry. Transportation spurts in the railroad and steampship industry opened up multiple regions
both to business people and to visitors.
Title: Three Brothers, Yosemite, 1861
Artist: Carleton E. Watkins (American 1829-1916)
Medium: Albumen print
Dimensions: 23 5/8 x 29 3/4 inches
Permanent Collection: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Image Courtesy: Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
The three artists: Church, Homer and Moran, all traveled extensively and painted what they saw.
Frederic Church, Winslow Homer and Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape
Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University:
January 30 - May 4, 2008
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