Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
William C. Osborn, New York, by January 1875
Descended in family
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, February 1993
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Frederic Edwin Church
(American, 1826–1900)
The Iceberg
c. 1875
Oil on canvas
Image: 22 x 27 in. (55.9 x 68.6 cm)
Frame: 31 5/8 x 36 1/2 x 5 in. (80.3 x 92.7 x 12.7 cm)
Frame: 31 5/8 x 36 1/2 x 5 in. (80.3 x 92.7 x 12.7 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1993.6
SignedUnsigned
InterpretationThe Iceberg is one of three paintings by Frederic Edwin Church that depict floating islands of frozen water in the Arctic Ocean. A schooner glides by the ponderous, jagged ice mass in shadow, while the upper reaches of the berg are gilded by the last rays of the unseen setting sun. The translucence of the ship’s sails as they are lit from behind by the powerful glow of icy white adds to the vessel’s seeming fragility and ghostly unreality, in contrast to the massive presence of the iceberg rising from the darkening sea. The dramatic contours of the berg testify to the violence of its formation, while the notable incline of its so-called terrace lines—the result of gradual tipping as it melts underwater—signals its inevitable demise. The Iceberg combines careful, scientific observation with subtle meditations on human frailty and the relentless passage of time.
Church’s fascination with icebergs was shared by many of his contemporaries, notably American landscape painter William Bradford, a specialist in depictions of the far North, who painted the Terra Foundation for American Art’s Floe—Ice (TF 1993.1) in 1872. For Church, however, painting icebergs was part of his ambition to “embrace the universe” by traveling to and depicting a range of exotic locales, from equatorial South America to the far North. He made the first of three paintings of the subject, his monumental Icebergs (1861, Dallas Museum of Art), after an expedition to the Arctic Circle in 1859. He then revisited the subject in the Terra Foundation’s painting of about 1875 and in a similar work of 1891 (Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh).
Both Church’s late iceberg paintings are relatively small canvases, painted from memory assisted by the oil sketches the artist made during his original voyage. The Terra Foundation’s Iceberg departs from the heroic drama, close-up perspective, and detail of the artist’s 1861 masterpiece to present the distant berg in the dimming light of sunset, an image of evocative memory rather than fact.
Church’s fascination with icebergs was shared by many of his contemporaries, notably American landscape painter William Bradford, a specialist in depictions of the far North, who painted the Terra Foundation for American Art’s Floe—Ice (TF 1993.1) in 1872. For Church, however, painting icebergs was part of his ambition to “embrace the universe” by traveling to and depicting a range of exotic locales, from equatorial South America to the far North. He made the first of three paintings of the subject, his monumental Icebergs (1861, Dallas Museum of Art), after an expedition to the Arctic Circle in 1859. He then revisited the subject in the Terra Foundation’s painting of about 1875 and in a similar work of 1891 (Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh).
Both Church’s late iceberg paintings are relatively small canvases, painted from memory assisted by the oil sketches the artist made during his original voyage. The Terra Foundation’s Iceberg departs from the heroic drama, close-up perspective, and detail of the artist’s 1861 masterpiece to present the distant berg in the dimming light of sunset, an image of evocative memory rather than fact.
William C. Osborn, New York, by January 1875
Descended in family
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, February 1993
Exhibition History
Ladies' Reception, Union League Club, New York, New York, Winter 1875, no. 26. [exh. cat.]
Hudson River School Days, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, November 18, 1992–January 9, 1993.
Attitudes Toward Nature, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 30, 1995–April 21, 1996.
Selected Works from the Collections: Two Hundred Years of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.
Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1997.
Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]
In Search of the Promised Land: Frederic Edwin Church and Exploration, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York (organizer). Venues: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, April 25–June 30, 2000; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 5–October 1, 2000; Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, October 21, 2000–January 3, 2001; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, January 18–March 18, 2001. [exh. cat.]
Ships at Sea: Sailing Through Summer, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 6–August 26, 2001.
D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002.
A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003.
Deux collections en regard: oeuvres de la Terra Foundation for the Arts et du Detroit Institute of Arts (Side by Side: Works from the Terra Foundation for the Arts and the Detroit Institute of Arts), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 2–June 1, 2003. [exh. cat.]
Copley to Cassatt: Masterworks from the Terra Collection, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, September 5–December 7, 2003.
A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004.
America! Storie di pittura dal nuovo mondo, Linea d'ombra, Treviso, Italy (organizer). Venue: Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy, November 24, 2007–May 4, 2008. [exh. cat.]
Manifest Destiny, Manifest Responsibility: Environmentalism and the Art of the American Landscape. Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois and Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Loyola University Museum of Art, May 17–August 10, 2008. [exh. cat.]
To the Ends of the Earth, Painting the Polar Landscape. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts (organizer). Venue: Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, November 8, 2008–March 1, 2009. [exh. cat.]
Through American Eyes: Frederic Church and the Landscape Oil Sketch. National Gallery, London, United Kingdom and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: National Gallery, London, United Kingdom, February 6–April 23, 2013; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, May 11–September 8, 2013. [exh. cat.]
Peindre L'Amérique les Artistes du Nouveau Monde (1830-1900), Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland (organizer). Venue: Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland, June 27–October 26, 2014. [exh. cat.]
Documenting Change: Our Climate (Past, Present and Future), CU Art Museum, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado (organizer); Venue: CU Art Museum (University of Colorado), Boulder, Colorado, February 7–July 20, 2019
The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context (L’atelier de la Nature, 1860-1910. Invitation à la Terra Collection). Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny (organizers). Venue: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, France, September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021. [exh. cat. in French]
Terra Collection-in-Residence, Colby College Museum of Art Venue: Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine, June 6, 2022-June 30, 2025.
Hudson River School Days, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, November 18, 1992–January 9, 1993.
Attitudes Toward Nature, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 30, 1995–April 21, 1996.
Selected Works from the Collections: Two Hundred Years of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.
Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1997.
Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]
In Search of the Promised Land: Frederic Edwin Church and Exploration, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York (organizer). Venues: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, April 25–June 30, 2000; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 5–October 1, 2000; Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, October 21, 2000–January 3, 2001; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, January 18–March 18, 2001. [exh. cat.]
Ships at Sea: Sailing Through Summer, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 6–August 26, 2001.
D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002.
A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003.
Deux collections en regard: oeuvres de la Terra Foundation for the Arts et du Detroit Institute of Arts (Side by Side: Works from the Terra Foundation for the Arts and the Detroit Institute of Arts), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 2–June 1, 2003. [exh. cat.]
Copley to Cassatt: Masterworks from the Terra Collection, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, September 5–December 7, 2003.
A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004.
America! Storie di pittura dal nuovo mondo, Linea d'ombra, Treviso, Italy (organizer). Venue: Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy, November 24, 2007–May 4, 2008. [exh. cat.]
Manifest Destiny, Manifest Responsibility: Environmentalism and the Art of the American Landscape. Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois and Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Loyola University Museum of Art, May 17–August 10, 2008. [exh. cat.]
To the Ends of the Earth, Painting the Polar Landscape. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts (organizer). Venue: Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, November 8, 2008–March 1, 2009. [exh. cat.]
Through American Eyes: Frederic Church and the Landscape Oil Sketch. National Gallery, London, United Kingdom and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: National Gallery, London, United Kingdom, February 6–April 23, 2013; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, May 11–September 8, 2013. [exh. cat.]
Peindre L'Amérique les Artistes du Nouveau Monde (1830-1900), Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland (organizer). Venue: Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland, June 27–October 26, 2014. [exh. cat.]
Documenting Change: Our Climate (Past, Present and Future), CU Art Museum, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado (organizer); Venue: CU Art Museum (University of Colorado), Boulder, Colorado, February 7–July 20, 2019
The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context (L’atelier de la Nature, 1860-1910. Invitation à la Terra Collection). Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny (organizers). Venue: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, France, September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021. [exh. cat. in French]
Terra Collection-in-Residence, Colby College Museum of Art Venue: Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine, June 6, 2022-June 30, 2025.
The Iceberg, Frederic Edwin Church. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1997. Ill. (black & white).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 26 (checklist); ill. p. 35 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 26 (checklist); ill. p. 35 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 76, 193; ill. pp. 8 (color), 77 (color), 193 (black & white).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 76, 193; ill. pp. 8 (color), 77 (color), 193 (black & white).
Goldin, Marco ed. America! Storie di pittura dal Nuovo Mondo. (exh. cat., Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy). Treviso, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2007. Text pp. 193, 455 (checklist); ill, cat. no. 90 pp. 205 (color), 455 (black & white as L'iceberg).
Goldin, Marco ed. America! Storie di pittura dal Nuovo Mondo. (exh. cat., Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy). Treviso, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2007. (English version). Text p. 84.
Brownlee, Peter John. Manifest Destiny / Manifest Responsibility: Environmentalism and the Art of the American Landscape. (exh. cat., Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art and Loyola University Museum of Art, 2008. Text pp. 28, 34 (checklist); Ill. Pl. 9, p. 48 (color).
Scott, Samuel, et al. To the Ends of the Earth, Painting the Polar Landscape. (exh. cat., Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts). Salem, Massachusetts: Peabody Essex Museum, 2008. Text p. 10, Ill. Pl. 43, p. 51. (color).
Wilton, Andrew. Frederic Church and the Landscape Oil Sketch. (exh. cat. National Gallery, London). London, UK: National Gallery Company, 2013. Text, p. 66; ill. cat. no. 270, p. 66 (color).
Hauptman, William. Peindre l’Amérique. Le artistes du Nouveau Monde 1830-1900 [Painting America, artists of the New World (1830-1900)]. trans. Jeanne Bouniort. (exh. cat., Fondation de l’Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland). Lausanne: La Bibliothèque des Arts, 2014. Cat. 1, Frontispice (color), Text pp. 4, 178 (checklist).
Picturing the Americas: Landscape Painting from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic. (exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo and the Terra Foundation for American Art). Toronto, Ontario: Art Gallery of Ontario in association with Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 2015. Text p. 69; ill. fig. 11, p. 69 (color).
Raab, Jennifer. Frederic Church: The Art and Science of Detail. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015. Text pp. 191–192, ill. p. 184 (color, detail); fig. 101, p. 191 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text p. 77; ill. p. 77 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine and Valerie Reis. The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context. (exh. cat, Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny). Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2020. Pl. 6, p. 63 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 26 (checklist); ill. p. 35 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 26 (checklist); ill. p. 35 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 76, 193; ill. pp. 8 (color), 77 (color), 193 (black & white).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 76, 193; ill. pp. 8 (color), 77 (color), 193 (black & white).
Goldin, Marco ed. America! Storie di pittura dal Nuovo Mondo. (exh. cat., Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy). Treviso, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2007. Text pp. 193, 455 (checklist); ill, cat. no. 90 pp. 205 (color), 455 (black & white as L'iceberg).
Goldin, Marco ed. America! Storie di pittura dal Nuovo Mondo. (exh. cat., Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy). Treviso, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2007. (English version). Text p. 84.
Brownlee, Peter John. Manifest Destiny / Manifest Responsibility: Environmentalism and the Art of the American Landscape. (exh. cat., Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art and Loyola University Museum of Art, 2008. Text pp. 28, 34 (checklist); Ill. Pl. 9, p. 48 (color).
Scott, Samuel, et al. To the Ends of the Earth, Painting the Polar Landscape. (exh. cat., Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts). Salem, Massachusetts: Peabody Essex Museum, 2008. Text p. 10, Ill. Pl. 43, p. 51. (color).
Wilton, Andrew. Frederic Church and the Landscape Oil Sketch. (exh. cat. National Gallery, London). London, UK: National Gallery Company, 2013. Text, p. 66; ill. cat. no. 270, p. 66 (color).
Hauptman, William. Peindre l’Amérique. Le artistes du Nouveau Monde 1830-1900 [Painting America, artists of the New World (1830-1900)]. trans. Jeanne Bouniort. (exh. cat., Fondation de l’Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland). Lausanne: La Bibliothèque des Arts, 2014. Cat. 1, Frontispice (color), Text pp. 4, 178 (checklist).
Picturing the Americas: Landscape Painting from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic. (exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo and the Terra Foundation for American Art). Toronto, Ontario: Art Gallery of Ontario in association with Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 2015. Text p. 69; ill. fig. 11, p. 69 (color).
Raab, Jennifer. Frederic Church: The Art and Science of Detail. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015. Text pp. 191–192, ill. p. 184 (color, detail); fig. 101, p. 191 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text p. 77; ill. p. 77 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine and Valerie Reis. The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context. (exh. cat, Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny). Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2020. Pl. 6, p. 63 (color).