Frederic Edwin Church, American, - Chimborazo, Viewed from Guanujo, Ecuador - June 13, 1857 v2 - T-Shirt

This study shows Chimborazo, the highest volcano in Ecuador, rising over the Andean settlement of Guanujo, drawn by Frederic Edwin Church on June 13, 1857.

Visual Elements & Composition

The sheet is light brown wove paper, worked in graphite and brush with white gouache. The gouache picks out the snow and light on the peak, so the mountain stands out from the darker ground. The viewpoint is low and dramatic, and the summit fills the upper part of the view. The terrain below is kept secondary, which pushes the eye upward toward the mountain's bulk.

Meaning & Symbolism

Church made this drawing during his South American travels, following the path of the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, whose scientific expeditions had made Chimborazo famous. For Hudson River School painters, the Andes were a place where scientific observation and religious awe met. Church recorded the mountain with close, measured attention, and he also gave it the scale and grandeur of the sublime. The result asks the viewer to consider their place within the wider natural world.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A drawing like this is made to be seen up close, with the eye moving across the paper's fine marks and highlights. On a tee, the image is seen from a few feet away, as the wearer moves. The sheet's contrast of pale gouache against warm brown suits the front of a shirt, where the summit can rise above the wearer's chest. The tee carries the same sense of scale Church gave the mountain, shown at the size of a person.