An exhibition titled "Frederic Church in Vermont" brings together over forty graphite drawings, oil sketches, and finished paintings by the American landscape painter Frederic Church, created during his visits to Vermont over thirty years. The works, drawn from public and private collections including Olana State Historic Site, the Yale University Art Gallery, and the Newark Museum of Art, trace Church's development from an aspiring student to a mature artist following the death of his mentor Thomas Cole in 1848.
This exhibition matters because it highlights a long-overlooked period in Church's career, establishing his Vermont sojourns as crucial to his artistic evolution. By assembling works from numerous institutions and private collections, the show offers a comprehensive view of how plein air sketching in Vermont helped Church develop the style and bravura that would make him the most important American landscape painter of the nineteenth century. The accompanying catalogue and support from the Kireker family underscore the scholarly and institutional significance of this reassessment.