“The River of Light”
This dreamy oil painting from 1877 is by the American Hudson River School artist, Frederic Edwin Church. It is titled “The River of Light (El Rio de Luz)” but has also been referred to as “Morning in the Tropics”. In this piece, Church’s magnificent use of light and dark depict the atmospheric quality of early mornings in a rain forest in his usual sublime and awe-inspiring manner.
Church traveled to South America in 1857 and created a series of sketches based on the scenery, plants, animals, and flowers that he saw. After returning back home to his studio, he turned these sketches into a series of large-scale oil paintings. This is the third large-scale painting he had created from his sketches and was finished 20 years after his trip.
Church’s large-scale paintings were often shown to the public in a theater-like setting, complete with a curtain and mood lighting. People would pay a fee to simply sit and look at the pieces and critics said that it was almost like you were transported to these far-off places.
As with Church’s other large-scale paintings, this piece is a composite of many of the different plants and scenes that Church experienced and saw while on his trip. Church was a lover of detail and authenticity and aspired to accurately depict trees and nature as he saw it. As such, there are many small and intricate details for the viewer to explore. In the foreground, there is a red-chested hummingbird sitting on a branch. In the background between the trees, you can just make out a person in a canoe.
“The River of Light” is currently in the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
For more on Frederic Edwin Church, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
