I’ve had this painting on my list for a while, and after looking into it more in order to write this newsletter, I can honestly say that it has one of the coolest stories out of any of the paintings I’ve covered so far.

(view the full sized image here)

I gave identifying info about this work to Perplexity with the instructions to research it and tell me all the interesting things it could about the work. Here’s what we got:

The Mystery of the Frozen Seas: The Remarkable Story of Frederic Edwin Church's "The Icebergs"

What you see: Towering walls of crystalline ice rise from dark arctic waters like the ruins of an ancient cathedral, their surfaces catching the dying light of an unseen sun. A broken ship's mast juts from the foreground ice—a haunting reminder of human fragility in nature's most unforgiving theater.

A Painting Born from Extraordinary Courage

In the summer of 1859, when Arctic exploration captured the world's imagination like a Victorian-era space race, Frederic Edwin Church made a decision that would define his legacy. The 33-year-old American artist, already famous for his breathtaking landscapes, chartered a 65-ton schooner called the Integrity and sailed into some of the most dangerous waters on Earth—the infamous "Iceberg Alley" between Newfoundland and Labrador.

Church was the first American artist to venture into these treacherous waters specifically to paint icebergs. While battling seasickness for nearly a month, he created over 100 oil sketches and graphite drawings, working with his paintbox balanced on his knees as the ship rocked through the ice-filled seas. His traveling companion, Reverend Louis Noble, documented their harrowing journey in the book After Icebergs with a Painter, describing icebergs that could explode "with all the violence and suddenness of gunpowder" as the July sun heated their surfaces.

The Shadow of Sir John Franklin's Tragedy

Church's expedition took place against the backdrop of one of history's most haunting maritime mysteries. Sir John Franklin's expedition had vanished into the Arctic ice in 1845 while searching for the Northwest Passage. All 129 men aboard the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror had perished in the frozen wasteland, their fate unknown for decades. The public was obsessed with Arctic exploration, and Church's icy masterpiece would become deeply connected to this tragedy.

Artistic Vision Meets Scientific Precision

Back in his New York studio, Church transformed his arctic sketches into a monumental 5.4 by 9.4-foot canvas—"The Icebergs" (originally titled "The North"). The painting exemplifies Church's unique fusion of scientific observation and Romantic grandeur, influenced by the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, who had urged artists to capture nature's sublime power.

The composition is a composite view—Church combined multiple icebergs from his sketches into an imaginary mega-iceberg that would dwarf any real formation. He employed meticulous detail: the translucent blue veins in the ice represent freshly frozen water without air bubbles, while the rust-colored boulder on the ice shelf refers to geological theories of the day about continental drift and the ice age. The painting's dramatic lighting captures the afternoon Arctic sun, casting shadows in "blues, purples, and pinks" across the crystalline surfaces.

A Marketing Masterstroke Gone Wrong

Church was not just an artist but a brilliant showman, like his contemporary P.T. Barnum. He exhibited "The Icebergs" as a single-painting show in elaborate installations with thick velvet curtains, dramatic gaslighting, and opera glasses for visitors who paid 25 cents admission. The painting debuted in New York on April 24, 1861.

But Church's timing was catastrophic. Just twelve days earlier, Confederate forces had fired on Fort Sumter, launching the American Civil War. In a patriotic gesture, Church quickly retitled the painting "The North" and donated all proceeds to the Union Red Cross. Yet with the nation plunged into war, the public had little interest in arctic landscapes, and the painting failed to sell.

The Broken Mast: A Symbol of Lost Souls

Before shipping the painting to London in 1863, Church made a crucial addition that transformed its meaning. He painted a broken ship's mast in the lower left foreground—a poignant tribute to Franklin's doomed expedition. This small detail converted the painting from a pure landscape into a meditation on human mortality and the terrible cost of exploration.

The mast, when viewed alongside Church's signature on the nearby ice shelf, has been interpreted as forming a crucifix—a symbol of sacrifice and redemption in the frozen wasteland. Church's original sketch of the same scene showed space for an entire shipwreck; by reducing it to just the mast's tip, he created a more powerful symbol of loss.

Triumph in London, Then... Vanished

In London, the painting found its audience. Every living polar explorer and Lady Jane Franklin herself came to see Church's tribute to Arctic heroism. The work was hailed as a masterpiece and purchased by railroad magnate Sir Edward Watkin for his Manchester estate. Church's arctic odyssey had finally paid off.

But then the painting essentially disappeared from art history. When Watkin died in 1901, his estate became the Rose Hill School for disadvantaged boys. "The Icebergs" was relegated to an upstairs hallway, slowly forgotten as Church's reputation dimmed with the rise of Impressionism. For 78 years, one of America's greatest paintings hung unrecognized in a British boarding school.

The Miraculous Rediscovery

In 1978, the story took an extraordinary turn. Glenn Baulch and his wife, who ran the Rose Hill facility, needed £14,000 to buy a cottage for their boys' rehabilitation program. Looking around for anything to sell, they photographed the old painting upstairs and sent the Polaroids to Sotheby's in London.

James Miller, who handled stray American artworks at Sotheby's, recognized the painting from art history books and sent the images to New York with a dry note: "Presumably this should come to you for sale". The New York office "broke out in screams" when they realized what they were looking at.

A Record-Breaking Return

On October 25, 1979, "The Icebergs" came to auction at Sotheby Parke Bernet in New York. The packed salesroom witnessed bidding that climbed slowly but relentlessly to $2.5 million—shattering all records for American art. The anonymous buyer, later revealed to be Lamar Hunt (owner of the Kansas City Chiefs) and his wife Norma, donated the painting to the Dallas Museum of Art, where it remains the crown jewel of their collection.

The Artist Who Painted the World

Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900) was born into privilege in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of a successful jeweler and banker. At 18, he became the only student ever accepted by Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School, who declared that Church had "the finest eye for drawing in the world".

But Church transcended his teacher's vision. Inspired by Alexander von Humboldt's writings, he became a scientific explorer-artist, traveling to South America twice to paint volcanoes and tropical forests, to the Mediterranean to capture ancient ruins, and to the Arctic to document its sublime terror. His paintings combined precise botanical and geological observation with Romantic emotion, creating what Humboldt praised as the perfect union of art and science.

Church's career peaked in the 1850s and 1860s when he was arguably America's most famous painter. His innovative marketing—single-painting exhibitions with theatrical lighting—drew thousands of paying visitors and established new models for presenting art to the public. After rheumatoid arthritis began limiting his painting ability in the 1870s, he focused on designing Olana, his Persian-inspired castle overlooking the Hudson River, which he conceived as a living work of art.

Church died in 1900, his reputation eclipsed by newer artistic movements. Yet the 1979 rediscovery of "The Icebergs" sparked renewed appreciation for his genius, establishing him as one of America's greatest landscape painters and a crucial figure in the history of art's engagement with science and exploration.

The story of "The Icebergs" embodies the Romantic spirit of its age—the courage to venture into the unknown, the sublime beauty found in nature's most inhospitable places, and the mysterious ways that great art can disappear and resurface to capture new generations. In Church's frozen masterpiece, we see not just icebergs, but the eternal human struggle between ambition and mortality, between the desire to explore and the humbling power of the natural world.

And that's it!

If you have any details you think Perplexity left out, reply to this email and I'll adjust my prompt to nudge it to include it next time.

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Thanks for reading!

-JP

Current prompt: I want you to create a newsletter post describing the fun and exciting stories around a painting. It should be a newsletter read for leisure and should be an enjoyable read (not just a list of facts) here's what you’re gonna do: Find the name of the following painting in its original language and any alternative names it goes by. Then Research the painting and give me blurb telling me all you can about the artist, the historical context/events it was created in, the style, the materials used, the composition and visual elements, the story/underlying message, what inspired the work/what it meant to the author, and whatever other info you find that helps give a complete understanding of the work. A description of what is depicted (mention subjects) should be the first thing, while the “biography” of the artist should be last. if the work has a lot of meaning behind it, then that is what the meat of the newsletter should be. Besides that you are free to present the information in a concise and captivating way, with the most interesting and novel stuff closest to the top. Order the presentation of information for which pieces have the most compelling and interesting story to tell. At least some of the description should be formatted like a story. [for example: a couple sits on a bench watching the sunset while a man next to them…]. ONLY include information that is for THIS SPECIFIC PAINTING. you will find info on paintings similar to this one but NOT this one. OMMIT INFO ABOUT SUCH PIECES. remember, the goal is to make the most compelling, intriguing, and fun to read newsletter as possible, so keep that above all else.