This sculptural sauceboat of soft-paste porcelain from the Sevres factory, 1756, masks its function as a wave surging over a bit of coral and seaweed.

PHILADELPHIA, PENN. – The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will host an exhibition of American landscape paintings of the famed Hudson River through August 25.

Organized by London’s Tate Gallery, “: Epic Landscapes of Our Nation, 1820-1880” examines these epic works from an international context, concentrating on the classic period of the Hudson River School from the years 1835 to 1870. The more than 80 works on view, many of grand proportions, will illustrate the evolution of this period of American landscape painting through its most celebrated masters.

From the symbolic works of Hudson River School founder Thomas Cole to the breathtaking panoramas of Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Edwin Church, the canvases record a newly explored continent of lust wildness, raging waterfalls and majestic mountain ranges.

The Pennsylvania Academy, 18 North Broad Street, is the first of only two United States venues for this show, and the only East Coast venue.

“This is probably the most ambitious exhibition shown by the Pennsylvania Academy in decades, and one of the grandest shows on Nineteenth Century America ever assembled,” said academy president and CEO Derek Gillman.

For information, 215-972-7600 or visit www.pafa.org. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm.