Rainforest, Jamaica

Frederic Edwin Church, May–September 1865

Download3000 × 1819 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900)
Medium: Oil and graphite on paperboard
Size: H x W: 30.5 × 51 cm (12 × 20 1/16 in.)
Museum: Smithsonian Institution
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Landscape sketch showing a view of a large, diagonally-growing tree in the dense rainforest of Jamaica. Prominently situated at center, the nearly horizontal trunk of a thick tree extends away from the viewer, from the lower left corner to the upper right. Two large boughs grow vertically out of the trunk, which itself is covered in moss, ferns, and other foliage. Other smaller trees that frame the scene at left and right also host plants on their trunks. Below, the foreground is filled with diverse and expressively rendered vegetation. In the background, some discernable tree ferns and palm trees help comprise a largely indistinct backdrop of greenery. Above, the blue, open sky is visible through the dense forest canopy.