Watch video













colors used
Select a frame


FRAMING INFORMATION
1st Art Gallery offers the option to receive your painting ready to hang or rolled in a tube.
Currently, for safety, we're able to ship framed paintings only up to a certain size. Once the maximum size is reached, the framing option is automatically disabled.
However, if you are interested in stretching or framing a painting larger than 24x36 inches (60x90 cm), please contact one of our customer success associates or let us know in your order notes. We will send you a catalog of our large framing styles and pricing options.
Unframed rolled canvas orders will arrive rolled inside a protective tube with an extra 1.5" white canvas on all sides so you can easily frame it locally.


Although Frederic Edwin Church is usually remembered as a landscape painter, there are much deeper layers to his work than simply portraying magnificent vistas and stunning scenes of unspoiled nature. In this oil on canvas piece from 1865, for example, many art critics have understood that Church was, to some extent, making a statement about the looming end of the Civil War, a conflict which took the lives of thousands of Americans and shaped the country itself through the most lethal war in American History.
Measuring more than two meters in width, the enormous painting is now in possession of Smithsonian American Art Museum, in Washington DC, where it can continue to be admired by the public in its East Wing. Initially, it was shown both in New York, where people would pay to gaze upon it and later in London and in both places it found great success with the public. As the country was embroiled in the fighting of the Civil War, the painting of a beautiful natural weather event was seen as a portent of the end of the war, as Union supporters often mentioned the aurora borealis, also called northern lights, itself as a heavenly sign from God himself of the divine distaste and the Confederacy.
The painting itself was inspired by sketches and descriptions provided by Church’s disciple, the arctic explorer Isaac Israel Hayes, produced on the latter’s travels to the Arctic Circle, during which he had experienced the natural light display in a January evening. Hayes himself was one of the people to publicly connect the northern lights to the Civil War, considering them to be a divine sign of the Union’s moral superiority. Upon returning from his travel in 1861, not only did he inspire Church, but he is said to have declared that he hoped to take the Republican flag to the ends of the Earth, with not a star removed from its Union.
Beyond its political significance, the piece can be considered as part of a broader collection, or polyptych, along with The Heart of the Andes, The Icebergs, and Rainy Season in the Tropics, which together form a arctic-tropical cycle beginning in 1859 and ending in this beautiful piece, which is also connected to the latter in that they both showcase natural light shows typical of their setting.
© 1st-Art-Gallery.com 2003 - 2025 - All Rights Reserved, original content, do not copy without permission.

Real Oil Paints, Real Brushes, Real Artists, Real Art. The Certificate of Authenticity which arrives with every painting provides an assurance and verifies the authenticity of the hand painted fine art reproduction you purchased. Each oil painting is created by hand using only the finest canvas and oil paints available.
Important Notes About Your Painting:
If you have any request to alter your reproduction of Aurora Borealis, you must email us after placing your order and we'll have an artist contact you. If you have another image of Aurora Borealis that you would like the artist to work from, please include it as an attachment. Otherwise, we will reproduce the above image for you exactly as it is.
- Ordered without a frame, it will be delivered in protective tube within 21-28 business days.
- When ordering the painting framed - allow additional 5-7 days for delivery. The painting will arrive ready to hang.
- Every painting is painted by an experienced artist.
- No printing or digital imaging techniques are used.
- 100% hand painted oil painting on artist grade canvas.
- Painting comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
- 365 days Money Back Guarantee.
- Enjoy Free Express Shipping.
- Hand crafted means unique to every owner. Each canvas reproduction may vary slightly in brush details due to the nature of being hand painted, so no two paintings are the same.
- For those customers who appreciate quality and want to own an artist's work as it was meant to be enjoyed we are here for you.

Free shipping is included in the price of the painting. Once the painting is ready and dry enough to ship, we will roll it and ship it in a sturdy cardboard tube.
We always ship express via courier to ensure your order reaches you as soon as possible - normally within three business days. The total delivery time from the moment you place your order until the package is delivered to your door is normally between three to four weeks.

If, in the unlikely event you were dissatisfied with the painting after reviewing it in person, it can be returned for a full refund for up to 365 days after delivery.
When you receive the painting; you are free to return it for more revisions or else for a full refund minus our actual shipping cost -- which is, on average, $35 per painting.

1st Art Gallery provides a full warranty covering manufacturing and material defects for paintings purchased from our website. The warranty covers damage for normal use. Damage caused by incidents such as accidents or inappropriate use are not covered.
Depending on the degree of damage to the warranted painting, it will either be repaired or replaced. This warranty service is provided free of charge.
Watch this video:

Related Categories