Pencil sketches of icebergs with handwritten notations and accents of white gouache, an opaque watercolor paint, on a wide sheet of tan paper. In the upper left corner is an outline of coastline or iceberg, with 'Land' written along the waterline. A curved line encloses the sketch. Centered in the upper third of the page is a view of an iceberg and waterline. The iceberg is roughly triangular, with a sharply angled, craggy left side and a sloping right side, ending in tumbled shaded shapes. It is touched with white gouache at the summit and edges. 'Ice bergs' is written below at right. In the upper right corner is an outline of a house-shaped iceberg: vertical sides, pointed top. 'July 2d/59' is written at the top right edge of the paper. At center left is a shaded sketch of a house-shaped iceberg, with straight vertical sides and pointed, sloping top sides. A smaller iceberg with a similar shape sits to the left. Below the waterline, to the left, is a black stamp of a circular wreath surrounding 'Museum for the Arts of Decoration Cooper Union'. Written to the right is 'Ice berg - enormous size / 3 1/2 miles distant / strange resemblance to a house'. In the lower right corner is a craggy, irregular iceberg thickly painted in gouache, within an enclosing box.

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Object Timeline

1917	We acquired this object.
2015	We photographed this object.
2018	We photographed this object.
2019	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Drawing, Iceberg with Strange Resemblance to a House

This is a Drawing. It was created by Frederic Edwin Church. It is dated July 2, 1859 and we acquired it in 1917. Its medium is graphite, brush and white gouache on light brown paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

In the far North, Church encountered a landscape of water and ice. His sketches reveal a fascination with the varied forms of icebergs, shaped by the elements. Waves, currents, sunshine, and storms acted on each iceberg to produce unique surface patterns. Some icebergs revealed fresh fractures, sharply cut like broken porcelain. Others were rounded and polished by the weather.

This object was donated by Louis P. Church. It is credited Gift of Louis P. Church.

Drawing, Two Icebergs
graphite, brush and white gouache on light brown paper.
Gift of Louis P. Church.
1917-4-273-b

Its dimensions are

11.4 x 21.0 cm (4 1/2 x 8 1/4 in. )

It has the following markings

Stamp in black ink, lower left (Lugt 457c): Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration

It is inscribed

Inscribed in graphite, upper left: Land; lower left: Ice berg - enormous size / 3 1/2 miles distant / strange resemblance to a house.; upper right: July 2d / 59; right center: Ice bergs

Cite this object as

Drawing, Iceberg with Strange Resemblance to a House; Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900); USA; graphite, brush and white gouache on light brown paper; 11.4 x 21.0 cm (4 1/2 x 8 1/4 in. ); Gift of Louis P. Church; 1917-4-273-a

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition After Icebergs.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2Bg94/
Accession Number 1917-4-273-a
Object ID 18196343