Frederic Church and American Art of Mourning and Remembrance

While the mid-19th century is characterized by Frederic Church’s creation of his artist-designed landscape and studio, Olana, it was also a fraught period in American life. The Civil War, high infant mortality, the dangers of childbirth, and numerous infectious diseases all kept death in the forefront of American consciousness during the 1800s. Mourning jewelry, post-mortem photography, memorial portraits, and landscape paintings sought to give solace to the living.
Presented in conjunction with the 2024 exhibition "Afterglow: Frederic Church and the Landscape of Memory", this talk focuses on memorial paintings and objects associated with Frederic Church’s family. During this virtual webinar, Professor Susan L. Aberth will frame these practices within a wider context of American art history.
Susan L. Aberth is the Edith C. Blum Professor in the Art History and Visual Culture Program at Bard College where she teaches a number of courses that deal with death, art and spirituality in the Americas. In addition to publications on the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, her work has also appeared in "Artforum," "Journal of Surrealism of the Americas," "Abraxas: International Journal of Esoteric Studies," and "Black Mirror."