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Frederic Church: The Art and Science of Detail by Jennifer Raab

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Matt Marcure

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Aurora Borealis is more than meets the eye.

On the dawn of September 2, 1859, something spectacular happened: people as far south as Columbia in the northern hemisphere were treated to the spectacle of an aurora due to a historic southernly shift in the geomagnetic north pole. Many in the United States, which stood upon the cliff side of a civil war, read the event as a portent of friction. They were right. When the American Civil War broke, the northern lights quickly became an icon of God’s divine displeasure with the crooked Confederacy, and a symbol of his shining support for the northern Union.

Church’s Aurora, painted not long after the Union victory at Gettysburg in 1863, a victory that shifted favor to the north, is an optimistic painting. It was inspired by his good friend and the great arctic explorer Isaac Israel Hayes, the naval captain of the SS United States. His boat can be seen mired in the arctic ice in the bottom left, and possibly as the lone human figure commanding the dog-led sled to the boat’s right. Hayes was also a student of draughtsmanship under Church, painting as much as he could of the frigid north. On his travels, which he returned from in 1861, Hayes composed a work featuring a similar set of mountains as the ones seen here, calling the peak there Church Peak in honor of his master. That same mountain peak, barely visible in the background of this painting, is dimly illuminated by the northern lights.

Church himself was an American nationalist in support of the Union. One of his more well known works is an ingenious landscape where an opening in a cloud-red sky creates an imitation of the star spangled banner. Critics have read the colorings in Aurora as suggestive of the flag as well, but that seems like a bit of a stretch. To have the SS United States poised under the glow of the northern lights, an icon of the Union, in a painting released shortly after the end of the Civil War seems much more suggestive of a hidden America-proud message in Aurora Borealis than speculations about flag iconography. To put it simply, it was in the Northern Lights we trust for Church. Who could blame him?

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Here is what Wikipedia says about Aurora Borealis (painting)

Aurora Borealis is an 1865 painting by the American artist Frederic Edwin Church of the aurora borealis and the Arctic expedition of Isaac Israel Hayes. The painting measures 142.3 by 212.2 centimetres (56.0 in × 83.5 in) and is now owned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Check out the full Wikipedia article about Aurora Borealis (painting)

Comments (6)

Gracia
3 years ago

The colors in this painting are beautiful. I like how he combines the use of different values with the use of line to make the painting look like it illuminates light. I also like the vastness this painting portrays with the dark, voluminous mountains and the far reaching waters. It reminds me how big the world is. Sometimes I feel like that little boat compared to the world! He took a beautiful moment, but he took this beautiful moment to the next level.

kalleydiehl
3 years ago

I like this artwork because the sky colors are vivid and directing the eye towards the dark mountain. This piece has a lot of small details that add a lot of character to the piece.

Karissa
3 years ago

I love this painting right off the bat. It immediately caught my eye with the colors it gives off. Looking deeper into the painting i noticed the smaller details such as the ship in the water and a man dog sledding. The texture of this photo is beautiful too because it looks very smooth. The colorful light beams look like the paintbrush just flicked them upward in a graceful motion. This painting also seems like it is suppose to be dark and sad, but the colors make it seem like there is hope and just a cold winter night.

Lexi K
3 years ago

I find this picture to be very interesting. The value of the colors within the picture really draw your eyes to the colors of the aurora borealis. The texture also gives the painting a sense of realism. Lastly, the composition of this splits in the horizontal fashion rather than vertical, this also helps draw your eyes up.

Amari Graham
4 years ago

I like it because there’s mystery to it. The sky is lit with vibrant colors but below is bleak despite the shadows. The colors could symbolize how he felt after the Union’s victory at Gettysburg: blue stability, red power, and yellow happiness.

rbrook
4 years ago

I love how the water reflects the different colors in the sky. It gives the picture symmetry between the top and bottom half.