Thatch Palm, Jamaica
Classification
nature studies
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Louis P. Church
Accession Number
1917-4-672-a
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
Frederic Edwin Church, leading figure of the Hudson River School, captured the exotic beauty of the Caribbean in *Thatch Palm, Jamaica* during a trip in May 1865. Amid the turmoil of the post-Civil War United States, Church sought respite from his debilitating rheumatoid arthritis by traveling to Jamaica, where he sketched the island's lush flora. This nature study reflects his meticulous observation of the natural world, a hallmark of his precise, almost scientific approach to landscape art that celebrated America's wilderness and beyond. As part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's coll...