Samuel Colman's "Niagara Falls"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1832-1920
Creation Date: c. 1863

Media: Oil on paper

Location: The Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York, USA

Emile A. Gruppe's "Winter Landscape"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1896-1978
Creation Date: 1947

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York, USA

Albert Bierstadt's "Red Mountain Peaks"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1830-1902

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York, USA

Thomas Hill's "Vernal Falls"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1829-1908
Creation Date: 1890

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York, USA

John William North's "Halsway Court, Somerset"

Nationality: English

Born-Died: 1842-1900

Media: Watercolor

A very nice painting for spring.

Frederic Edwin Church's "Niagara"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1826-1900

Creation Date: 1857
Size: 40 x 90.5 inch (106.5 x 229.9 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas

Location: The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA

Frederic Edwin Church's "Niagara Falls from the American Side"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1826-1900

Creation Date: 1867
Size: 101.3 x 89.5 inch (257.5 x 227.3 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas

Location: The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

This is one of two incredible paintings of Niagara Falls painted by Frederic Church.  I will post the second painting tomorrow.  When I was in Scotland I was fortunate to see this painting regularly.  I was surprised to discover how painterly it is, particularly in the rocks near the bottom. 

I'm posting this painting because my wife and I just saw visited Niagara Falls yesterday.  Although I didn't have a copy of this painting with me, I briefly tried to find the spot Church took this view from, but I don't think that location is accessible anymore.  In any case, below are some of our photos of the falls.  If I have a chance, I'll try to get a better photo and perhaps I can find Church's spot. 

20 Unusual Depictions of Clouds by Ferdinand Hodler

Nationality: Swiss

Born-Died: 1853-1918

Media: Oil on canvas

I am not really a fan of Ferdinand Hodler.  When I briefly traveled in Switzerland I was extremely eager to skip his paintings in the museums.  I still do not like his color sensibilities at all.  I don't like the lackluster brushwork, the semi-volumetric nature of the forms, the intermittent use of line in otherwise tonal paintings and the (often) lack of middle and dark tones in his work, which leaves them looking chalky, dry and weak looking.  

However, when he didn't fall into these errors, some of his paintings are actually quite nice.  I do appreciate some of his stylizations, which I think can be interesting and clever.   I like that he wasn't afraid to boldly stylize reality to suit his expressive ends. 

This selection of images focuses on his confident use of form when depicting clouds as a subject.  As an artist, I personally wouldn't have painted these clouds in quite these ways, but I respect some of his innovative choices.  I am always interested in observations and in observing natural phenomenon such as unusual cloud formations, so I appreciate it when another artist makes use of such phenomenon. 

Johannes Vermeer's "View of Delft"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1659-1660
Creation Date: c. 1660-1661
Size: 26.1 × 30.1 inch (98.5 × 117.5 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands

Albert Bierstadt's "Sunset in the Rockies"

Nationality: German-American
Born-Died: 1830-1902

Creation Date: 1866

Media: Oil on canvas

Caspar David Friedrich's "Sea of Ice" or "The Wreck of Hope"

Nationality: German
Born-Died: 1774-1840

Creation Date: 1823-1824

Size: 38× 49.9 inch (96.7 × 126.9 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Hendrick Avercamp's "Winter Landscape"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: c. 1585-c. 1634

Creation Date: c. 1630

Size: 11.25 × 16.61 inch (28.6 × 42.2 cm)

Media: Oil on copper

Location: The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Photo by me.  I'll bet Amsterdam is fun when the canals freeze over.

George Inness' "Winter Evening"

Nationality: American
Born-Died: 1825-1894

Creation Date: 1887

Media: Oil on canvas

Utagawa Hiroshige's "Night Snow at Kambara"

Nationality: Japanese
Born-Died: 1797-1854

Creation Date: 1834

Media: Woodblock print (ink on paper)

From the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido.

Maxfield Parrish's "Moonlight"

Nationality: American
Born/Died: 1870-1966

Creation Date: 1932
Size: 32 x 23 in. (81.3 × 58.4 cm)
Media: Oil on panel

Grant Wood's "January"

Nationality: American
Born/Died: 1891-1942

Creation Date: 1940-1941
Size: 54 x 25.25 x 37 in. (14.2 × 10.2 cm)
Media: Oil on masonite panel
Location: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

I have liked this painting ever since it was acquired by the CMA. Another good move by them.

Adelsteen Normann's "View of a Fjord"

Nationality: Norwegian

Born/Died: 1848-1918

Media: Oil on canvas

Gustave Doré's "First Ascent of the Matterhorn"

Nationality: French

Born/Died: 1832-1883

Creation Date: 1865

Media: Lithograph on paper

Hiroshige's "Clear Weather After Snow at Kameyama"

Nationality: Japanese

Born/Died: 1797-1858

Media: Woodblock print on paper

Thomas Cole's "The Voyage of Life: Manhood"

Nationality: American
Born/Died: 1801-1848
Creation Date: 1840
Size: 52.3 in × 78 in. (132.8 × 198.1 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA