We hover over the bottle-green surface of a river as it rushes toward a horseshoe-shaped waterfall that curves away from us in this horizontal landscape painting. The water is white and frothy right in front of us, where the shelf of the riverbed changes levels near the edge of the falls. Across from us, the water is also white where it falls over the edge. A thin, broken rainbow glints in the mist near the upper left corner of the painting and continues its arc farther down, between the falls. The horizon line is just over halfway up the composition. Plum-purple clouds sweep into the composition at the upper corners against a lavender-colored sky. Tiny trees and a few buildings line the shoreline to the left and right in the deep distance.
Frederic Edwin Church, Niagara, 1857, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.79.10

Upcoming Exhibition

Niagara Falls: Mist and Majesty

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    West Main Floor Gallery 72

  • Ticketing Information

    Admission is always free and passes are not required

Some 20 works will probe how the layered histories and meanings of Niagara Falls—long associated with our country’s nationhood—have evolved from the early 19th century to today.

We hover over the bottle-green surface of a river as it rushes toward a horseshoe-shaped waterfall that curves away from us in this horizontal landscape painting. The water is white and frothy right in front of us, where the shelf of the riverbed changes levels near the edge of the falls. Across from us, the water is also white where it falls over the edge. A thin, broken rainbow glints in the mist near the upper left corner of the painting and continues its arc farther down, between the falls. The horizon line is just over halfway up the composition. Plum-purple clouds sweep into the composition at the upper corners against a lavender-colored sky. Tiny trees and a few buildings line the shoreline to the left and right in the deep distance.
Frederic Edwin Church, Niagara, 1857, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.79.10
Tseng Kwong Chi, Niagara Falls, New York, 1984, printed 2022, gelatin silver print, Gift of Funds from the Kend Family Fund and Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund, 2023.12.2

Organization
Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Curated by Sarah Cash, associate curator, department of American and British paintings; and Diane Waggoner, curator of photographs, department of photographs, both of the National Gallery of Art.

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