Niagara Falls, from the American Side

"Niagara Falls, from the American Side" is a celebrated painting by renowned American artist Frederic Edwin Church, completed in 1867. As the largest painting Church ever created, it is currently housed at the Scottish National Gallery. Church was a prominent figure in the Hudson River School, a group of painters renowned for their intricate and romanticized depictions of landscapes.

In this masterpiece, Church presents a stunning vista from the eastern side of Niagara Falls. The painting vividly captures the majestic force of the cascading water, complete with a rainbow arcing through the mist. This work wasn’t Church's first attempt at representing Niagara Falls. His earlier painting, created in 1857 from the Canadian side, featured an unconventional size but gained immense popularity. It drew over 100,000 visitors within just two weeks during its New York exhibition. This initial painting embarked on a tour across the United States and Britain and was exhibited at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Eventually, it found a permanent home at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and after the gallery's closure in 2014, it was transferred to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The 1867 painting, "Niagara Falls, from the American Side" was commissioned by art dealer Michael Knoedler. It was the third installation in Church's Niagara series and was also displayed at the Exposition Universelle. Later, it was acquired by John S. Kennedy, who generously donated it to Scotland. This painting is particularly notable as the only major work by Frederic Edwin Church in a public collection in Europe.

Church's artistic style is deeply embedded in Romanticism, emphasizing the awe-inspiring and picturesque aspects of nature. As a member of the Hudson River School, he was influenced by the romantic ideals of capturing profound emotions and the transcendent beauty of the natural world. His depiction of Niagara Falls exemplifies this perfectly, highlighting the dramatic and sublime power of the waterfall.