“Tropical Scenery”
This dream-like oil on canvas painting, titled “Tropical Scenery”, is from 1873 by the American artist, Frederic Edwin Church, of the Hudson River School of art. This piece was based on several excursions to the country of Ecuador in South America that Church had taken several decades prior. He had created a series of paintings based on these adventures, such as the one shown here.
The first trip was taken in 1853 with businessman, Cyrus West Field, to have Church paint scenes to lure investors. The second trip was made in 1857 with fellow artist, Louis Rémy Mignot.
Perhaps because “Tropical Scenery” was painted from memory so many years after the fact, the fine detail that is seen in his earlier South American inspired works is replaced by a more mellow and diffused, almost dream-like vision. It isn’t of any particular place, but rather is a composite piece with elements of different areas put into one landscape. A solitary figure, a woman, can be seen in the foreground. This is a common element for landscapes produced in the Hudson River School of Art style.
“Tropical Scenery” is currently on display at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York.
For more on Frederic Edwin Church, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
