The Intrepid Quest for Church’s “Icebergs”

Thursday, November 17, 2022

What happens when an artist and his travel companion set forth to chase icebergs? The immediate result is a suite of drawings and oil sketches created to inspire future paintings, and a travelogue written to draw attention to the artist’s dedication to his craft. Frederic Church’s massive painting, The Icebergs, painted shortly after the trip, is the capstone of that adventure. But the painting soon embarked on its own journey across the Atlantic to England, where it was presumed lost for more than a century. During this virtual webinar, Eleanor Jones Harvey will recount that voyage, which encompasses inspiration, accolades, disappearance, and rediscovery. Registration to this live webinar is free for members. This program will be recorded and available online.

Eleanor Jones Harvey is senior curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). She earned a B.A. with distinction in art history from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in the history of art from Yale University. She organized the widely-praised exhibition The Civil War and American Art (SAAM and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 2012-2013). Her most recent exhibition was Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture, (SAAM, 2020-2021). From 1992-2002 she was Curator of American Art at the Dallas Museum of Art, where she organized the exhibition The Voyage of the Icebergs: Frederic Church’s Arctic Masterpiece in 2002 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the gift of the painting to the museum.