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# Aurora Borealis

Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery

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                      -     DetailsRelatedObject Details- Artist
- Frederic Edwin Church, born Hartford, CT 1826-died New York City 1900
- Gallery Label
- Under a dark Arctic sky, polar explorer Isaac Israel Hayes's ship, the SS United States, lies frozen in the pack ice at the base of a looming cliff. The auroras above erupt in a cascade of eerie lights, while the dogsled implies the hope of rescue from this icy prison. Hayes and Frederic Church were friends, and upon Hayes's return from the Arctic in 1861, he gave Church his sketches as inspiration for this painting. When Hayes returned to New York, the country was in the thick of civil war and, in a rousing speech, he 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."
- During the Civil War, the auroras--usually visible only in the north---were widely interpreted as signs of God's displeasure with the Confederacy for advocating slavery, and of the high moral stakes attached to a Union victory. Viewers understood that Church's painting of the Aurora Borealis (also known as the northern lights) alluded to this divine omen relating to the unresolved conflict.
- Exhibition Label
- 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 conflict.
- Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
- Publication Label
- The Civil War defined America and forever changed American art. American artists of this era could not depict the conflict using the conventions of European history painting, which glamorized the hero on the battlefield. Instead, America's finest painters captured the transformative impact of the war. Through landscapes and genre paintings, these artists gave voice to the nation's highest ideals and deepest concerns — illustrating a time that has been described as the second American Revolution.
- Smithsonian American Art Museum: Commemorative Guide. Nashville, TN: Beckon Books, 2015.
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Eleanor Blodgett
- 1865
- Object number
- 1911.4.1
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 56 x 83 1/2 in. (142.3 x 212.2 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, East Wing
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Waterscape\boat
- Waterscape\sea
- Waterscape\coast
- Landscape\weather\snow
- Landscape\phenomenon\aurora
- Record ID
- saam_1911.4.1
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7045f8e74-3e7b-458d-8442-301c4e8e8382
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  CC0Creative Commons - No Rights Reserved iconUsage Conditions Apply>download icon>          This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions).  You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian.  For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.        International media Interoperability FrameworkIIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.View manifestView in Mirador ViewerExpand to view image×                             Footer logo      
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