Mountains and Sunshine, Mexico

Frederic Edwin Church's sketch captures the dramatic topography of Mexico's landscape through rapid, gestural linework. Church labels key features—dark mountains, blue sky, white peaks—establishing a visual shorthand for the dramatic effects of light and shadow across terrain. The artist's notation technique reflects his practice of field studies, which he would later synthesize into finished paintings. Church's approach to landscape drawing influenced American art education and the development of plein-air practice among later artists.