Five Floating Icebergs, Canada

Frederic Edwin Church's sketch captures icebergs in the North Atlantic with the precision of fieldwork observation. The composition arranges five distinct ice formations across a horizontal plane, each rendered with careful attention to the play of light on crystalline surfaces and the contrast between exposed rock and snow-covered peaks. A small dwelling anchors the distant horizon, establishing scale and human presence against these monumental natural forms. Church's method—rapid notation in graphite and white chalk on toned paper—exemplifies the 19th-century landscape artist's practice of sketching from nature as preparation for larger studio paintings. This drawing documents both geological form and the artist's direct engagement with the Canadian landscape during the era of American Romantic landscape exploration.