Perched over the Hudson River near the city of Hudson sits Olana State Historic Site, once the wondrous home of painter Frederic Church.

This Gilded Age mansion is unlike any in the valley, mystical and imposing, evoking Persian and Moorish architectural styles and reflecting the art and ambitions of its former owner.

Church was more than a Hudson River School painter; he was an adventurer and dreamer, bringing the vistas of the world to America within his massive landscape creations. In 1859, when his Heart of the Andes made its New York debut, thousands lined up to soak in its impossible beauty.

Victoria Johnson, author of the new biography Glorious Country: How the Artist Frederic Church Brought the World to America and America to the World, has walked in his footsteps — from the Ecuadorian volcano Cotopaxi to the heights of ancient Petra.

She joins Greg and Tom on the podcast this week to discuss Church’s unusual life — both as a New Yorker and as a daring traveler. After this show, you may never look at a landscape painting the same way again.

You can also find the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Overcast and YouTube.

We want to thank Victoria Johnson for joining us on the Bowery Boys Podcast. Her new book Glorious Country is available on Scribner.

Floating Iceberg, Canada, June–July 1859, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Frederic Edwin Church, Niagara Falls in Winter, March 1856, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Twilight in the Wilderness, 1860, The Cleveland Museum of Art  The Parthenon, 1871, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 10th Street Studio, where Church’s studio was located Frederic Edwin Church, The Heart of the Andes, 1859, The Metropolitan Museum of Art FURTHER LISTENING

Some other shows from the Bowery Boys Podcast related to this week’s show. Give them a listen when you’re done with our interview with Victoria Johnson: