Pichincha, oil on canvas, 1867, 31" x 48-3/16". Rare period 1860s American frame, Earle Galleries, Philadelphia maker, gilded applied composition ornament, embossed paper, and stenciled sand on wood. ”Church became famous for his paintings of natural wonders like Niagara Falls, icebergs in the Arctic, and volcanoes in South America. He sketched this volcano, called Pichincha, on a trip to Ecuador in 1857, but made the painting ten years later in the comfort of his studio in New York. In the finished work, Church added palm trees that could not have grown on the high Andean plain. Although the volcano is dormant in the picture, its eruptions were frequent and dangerous. It had also been the site of a fierce battle in 1822 between Ecuadorian patriots (fighting for independence) and royalists (loyal to Spain), after which the country was plunged into uncertainty and sectionalism, much like the post-Civil War United States was facing at the time Church made this painting.” —museum label. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 125th Anniversary Acquisition. Gift of the McNeil Americana Collection, 2004, 2004-115-2

Twilight On The Campagna, Evening, 1851-1852, oil on canvas, 38" x 53-5/8", period 1850s American frame, gilded applied composition ornament and stenciled sand on wood. “Unburdened by narrative—a major shift for the young Inness—Twilight on the Campagna experiments instead with mood. The artist later declared that his primary goal was “not to instruct, not to edify, but to awaken an emotion.” The twisting, tortured trunks of the trees at right, silhouetted by the waning light, are melancholic and resonate with the dramatic scenes of Baroque master Salvator Rosa (1615–1673). Painted soon after Inness’s arrival in Italy, Twilight on the Campagna anticipates the poetic dimension that became the artist’s signature in the last decade of his life.”—museum label. Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Alex Simpson, Jr., Collection, 1945, 1945-5-1