Framed Niagara Falls from American Side by Frederic Edwin Church

Niagara Falls, from the American Side (1867) by Frederic Edwin Church is one of the most iconic and powerful landscapes of 19th-century American art. A leading figure of the Hudson River School, Church captures the overwhelming force and sublime beauty of the falls with extraordinary realism and grandeur. Painted after Church visited Niagara in person, the work presents a sweeping view of the American side of the falls, with torrents of green-blue water crashing down into a mist-shrouded gorge. The composition is almost cinematic, with no human figures to interrupt the majesty of nature. Light breaks through the mist, adding drama and reverence to the scene, while minute details—like scattered driftwood and birds above the spray—enhance its immediacy and realism.