Mt. Katahdin from Millinocket Lake, Maine

Frederic Edwin Church's panoramic sketch captures Maine's Mt. Katahdin rising above forested shorelines and still water. Rendered in ink with selective watercolor accents—notably the warm oranges and reds of the sky—the composition extends horizontally across the page, emphasizing the mountain's isolation and scale. Church, a leading Hudson River School painter, employed such studies to explore light, atmosphere, and the American landscape's monumental character. This drawing demonstrates his working method: direct observation translated into portable sketches that informed larger studio compositions and revealed his fascination with dramatic natural phenomena and geological formations.