El Altar from Riobamba, Ecuador

Frederic Edwin Church's sketch depicts the snow-capped peak of El Altar, part of Ecuador's volcanic chain, rendered in watercolor and ink on paper. Church traveled through South America from 1853 to 1856, producing studies and finished paintings that brought exotic landscapes to American audiences. This working drawing—with its delicate mountain silhouette, distant dwelling, and handwritten notation—exemplifies the artist's method of field observation. Church's South American expeditions shaped the Hudson River School's expansion beyond North American wilderness, establishing the Andes as subjects worthy of the monumental landscape tradition.