Iceberg in Cartwright's Bight, Southwest from Battle Harbor, Canada

Frederic Edwin Church, American, 1826–1900 · June or July 1859

Seascape sketch of a large iceberg floating in Cartwright's Bight, an inlet on the island known as Caribou Run off the coast of Labrador in Canada. Dominating the composition at center, the iceberg has a large, rugged prominence at left that flattens out to a form resembling a duck bill at right. The right side of the berg is a sheer, icy cliff. Dark, rippling ocean waters comprise the foreground while, in the background, sporadic clouds hang in a sky that gradates from a pinkish orange on the horizon, to greenish blue along the upper margin. In the lower portion, graphite guiding lines are visible at the base of a yellow-brown ground.