View of Cotopaxi

1857

Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900)

View of Cotopaxi brings together in visual form scientific, religious, political, and cultural ideas in the mid-19th century. Inspired by German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt’s concept of ecological interconnectedness, Frederic Edwin Church traveled to South America to meticulously study the tropical landscape. The artist produced at least ten finished paintings of the Ecuadorian volcano, this one completed in his studio just before his second visit to the region. For Church and other Christian viewers, nature, with all its creative and destructive wonders, was evidence of divine power. The painting likewise reflected an imperialist vision, as US government officials eyed Latin America as a site for territorial expansion and conquest.

Status: On View, Gallery 171
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Frederic Edwin Church
Title: View of Cotopaxi
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1857
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Signed, lower right: "F. E. Church '57"
Dimensions: 62.2 × 92.7 cm (24 1/2 × 36 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Jennette Hamlin in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Dana Webster
Reference Number: 1919.753
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/76571/manifest.json

Chicago Press and Tribune, June 1, 1859, 2.
“The Art Exhibition,” Chicago Tribune, Oct. 27, 1863, 2.
“The Art Exhibition of the Sanitary Fair: First Alcove,” Chicago Daily Journal, Oct. 29, 1863, 4.
Handbook of Paintings and Drawings, The Art Institute of Chicago, pt. II (Art Institute of Chicago, 1920), 56, no. 547.
The Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 14 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1920), 28.
Guide to the Paintings and Drawings (Art Institute of Chicago, 1925), 130, no. 547.
Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 45 (Sept. 1951), 45 (ill.).
“Art in Chicago: Americans Reinstalled,” Art Digest (Oct. 1951), ill.
David C. Huntington, Frederic Edwin Church, 1826–1900: Painter of the Adamic New World Myth (Ph.D. Diss., Yale University, 1960), 107.
David Hanks, “American Paintings at The Art Institute of Chicago,” Nov. 1973, 902.
Judith A. Barter, et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Art Institute of Chicago, 1998), 188–90, no. 86.

Chicago, Burch’s Building, Chicago Exhibition of Fine Arts First Exhibition of Statuary, Paintings, etc, 1859, cat. 180, as “Landscape.”
Chicago, McVicker’s Theatre Building, Chicago Exhibition of the Fine Arts of the Chicago Branch of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, 1863, cat. 200, as “South America.”
Oakenwald School, Chicago, IL, Paintings and Water Colors, Dec. 6, 1935.
Art Institute of Chicago and New York City, Whitney Museum of Art, The Hudson River School, 1945, cat. 45.
New London, Conn., Lyman Allyn Museum, Eighty Eminent Painters of Connecticut, 1947, cat. 90.
Milwaukee–Downer College, Wisconsin, A Century of Landscape Painting by American Artists, 1851–1951, Feb. 13 – Mar. 23, 1951, cat. no. 3. *only checklist on back of symposium brochure, The Arts in Society, Milwaukee–Downer College Feb. 13, 1951.
Durand Art Institute, Lake Forest College, A Century of American Painting: Masterpieces Loaned by The Art Institute of Chicago, June 10–16, 1957, cat. 1.
Art Institute of Chicago, Two Centuries of American Art, 1750-1950, Oct. 1, 1959–Jan. 10, 1960, no cat. [downloadable checklist available].
Newark, University of Delaware and Wilmington Society of Fine Arts, American Painting 1857–1869, Jan. 10–Feb. 18, 1962, cat. 14.
Washington, DC, National Museum of American Art, Creation and Renewal: Views of Cotopaxi by Frederic Edwin Church, Mar. 29–July 14, 1985, cat. 6.
Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, Frederic Edwin Church, Oct. 8, 1989–Jan. 28, 1990, cat. 29.
Nagaoka, Japan, Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Shikago Bijutsukan Ten: Kindai Kaiga no 100–nen [Masterworks of Modern Art from the Art Institute of Chicago], Apr. 20–May 29, 1994, cat.; Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, June 10–July 24, 1994; Yokohama Museum of Art, Aug. 6–Sept. 25, 1994.
New York City, Berry–Hill Galleries, In Search of the Promised Land: Frederic Edwin Church and Exploration, Apr. 25–June 30, 2000; Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Aug. 5–Oct. 1, 2000, Portland Art Museum, Oregon, Oct. 21, 2000–Jan. 3, 2001, Portland Museum of Art, Maine, Jan. 18–Mar. 18, 2001 (Maine only).

Walter Wright, Chicago, from 1857 to 1876; by descent to Anne E. Webster, from 1876 to 1894; by descent to Lewis Dana Webster, from 1894 to 1908; by descent to Ida Hamlin Webster, from 1908 to 1912; by descent to Mary Jennette Hamlin, from 1912 to 1919; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1919.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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