Twilight in the Wilderness

A blazing sunset makes an empty American wilderness feel both magnificent and ominous.

What to notice

Follow the red-orange sky down toward the dark land; almost all of the drama comes from the contrast between glowing atmosphere and silhouetted forms.

Discover

Church painted the Maine landscape from earlier sketches, but the timing of the work—on the eve of the Civil War—has encouraged symbolic readings of the fiery sky. Its theatrical scale helped make him one of America’s most famous painters.