Mount Katahdin from Millinocket Camp
Mount Katahdin from Millinocket Camp, 1895
Frederic Edwin Church (United States, 1826—1900)
oil on canvas, 26 1/2 x 42 1/4 inches
Gift of Owen W. and Anna H. Wells in memory of Elizabeth B. Noyce
Portland Museum of Art, Maine, 1998.96
As his last major studio painting, Mount Katahdin from Millinocket Camp sums up Frederic Edwin Church’s remarkable career as a landscape painter. Church made his first ambitious inland expedition to the Mount Katahdin region of Maine in 1852, a journey he would repeat many times throughout his life. As the largest mountain in Maine, Mount Katahdin held a special place in the minds of Americans before the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains was fully realized.
Upon completing Mount Katahdin from Millinocket Camp in 1895, he presented it to his wife, Isabel, on her 59th birthday. In a note dedicating the painting to his wife, Church wrote, ìI am happy in the belief that owing to your generous, unselfish and cheerful nature the Autumn of your life will be beautiful in its brightness and color. Your old guide is paddling his cause in the shadow, but he knows that the glories of the Heavens and earth are seen more appreciatively when the observer rests in the shade."
Many Maine students have personal connections to the woods and lakes found throughout the state. In these lessons, students discover how Mount Katahdin from Millinocket Camp relates to their own experiences and becomes a source of inspiration for their writing and art making.