Aurora Borealis
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Smithsonian American Art Museum Object Description
The ship and sled team in this image belonged to Frederic Church's friend, polar explorer Dr. Isaac Hayes. Hayes had led an Arctic expedition in 1860, and gave his sketches from the trip to the artist as inspiration for this painting. Hayes returned from his voyage to find the country in the thick of the Civil War, and in a rousing speech vowed that "God willing, I trust yet to carry the flag of the great Republic, with not a single star erased from its glorious Union, to the extreme northern limits of the earth." Viewers understood Church's painting of the Aurora Borealis (also known as the northern lights) as a portent of disaster, a divine omen relating to the ...
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All Works in Curationist’s archives can be reproduced and used freely. How to attribute this Work:
Frederic Edwin Church, born Hartford, CT 1826-died New York City 1900, Aurora Borealis, 1860s, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution. CC0.
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