DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

During Week 8 we discussed Charles Darwin, Von Humboldt, and Frederic Church in class.



Charles Darwin had a family tradition of Unitarianism. He studied medicine, biology, botany and anthropology. This led him to becoming a naturalist! He was invited to join a voyage to South America on board the HMS Beagle. What better than have a scientist on board? He accepted the offer and went on the 5 year long journey. He shared that it "shed some light on the origin of species".  On the Galapagos Islands Darwin is known for noting the tortoises as well as the finches(beaks). Personally, i'm not one to agree with his particular belief system but I never doubted his knowledge; he was incredibly intelligent. He spent a lot of time devoting his time to this study and I respect that.

 

As for Von Humboldt, his writings challenged painters such as Thomas Cole,  Frederic Church, and Martin Johnson Heade.

 

 

Frederic Church is my favorite painter that we discussed so far. He is known for being among the Hudson River School of American landscape painters. I love the way he paints because it never feels like I'm looking at a painting, it looks like a photograph!  Simply too beautiful for words. Painting has always been a interest of mine that i've always wanted to pursue. Maybe I can take it next semester! But as for Church, here are my personal favorites:


 

Syria by the Sea, 1873

(Detroit Institute of Arts)


 

The Heart of the Andes, 1859

(Metropolitan Museum of Art)


 

 

Aurora Borealis, 1865

(Smithsonian American Art Museum)

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.