Considered the first major American painting movement, the Hudson River School emerged in the first half of the 19th century with landscape paintings that celebrated the young country’s natural beauty. Most of its leading painters were based in New York City where they exchanged ideas and traveled to the nearby Hudson River Valley and Catskills Mountains to re-create their vistas. At a time when the city was increasingly dense, the Hudson River School artists extolled the vast and pristine qualities of the American landscape, a sentiment that would inform the conservation movement.
American art was dominated by portraiture and historical scenes before Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School, began painting the Catskill Mountains in 1825. While the Hudson River School was informed by European art aesthetics, particularly the British focus on the sublime in nature, it was a style imbued with nationalism. The landscape painters who followed and studied under Cole would expand their focus from the Northeastern United States to places across the country, their work shared through prints and portfolios promoting an appreciation for the American wilderness — Niagara Falls, the mountain ranges that dot the American West and more — as the style blossomed during the mid-19th century.
Cole’s student Frederic Edwin Church as well as painters such as Albert Bierstadt, John Frederick Kensett, Asher Brown Durand and others became prominent proponents of the Hudson River School. The American art movement also had close ties to the literary world, including to authors like William Cullen Bryant, Henry David Thoreau and James Fenimore Cooper who wrote on similar themes. Although by the early 1900s the style had waned, and modernism would soon guide the following decades of art in the United States, the Hudson River School received renewed interest in the late 20th century for the dramatic way its artists portrayed the world.
Find a collection of authentic Hudson River School paintings, drawings and watercolors and more art on 1stDibs.
Picking Wildflowers
Located in Milford, NH
A fine landscape painting with birch trees and wildflowers by American artist Ernest Parton (1845-1933). Parton was born in Hudson, New York, and in his teenage years, began to accom...
Canvas, Oil
Autumn Landscape
By William Louis Sonntag Sr. 1
Located in Milford, NH
A wonderful Autumn landscape likely of the Hudson River Valley by the revered American artist William Louis Sonntag (1822-1900). Sonntag was born near Pittsburgh, PA and moved to Cincinnati, OH in the 1840’s to study art. He studied for a brief time with G. Frankenstein at the Cincinnati Academy of Fine Art and his idealized paintings of American wilderness and visionary paintings of imagined European ruins were commercially successful. He traveled twice to Europe in the 1850’s to improve his skills, eventually settling in New York City. He joined the National Academy of Design, where he exhibited his works for forty years. His mature works identify him with the Hudson River School of landscape painters. A romantic and naturalistic painter of his surroundings, Sonntag also created idealized paintings of Roman ruins, recalling his European trips of earlier years. Sonntag was an Associate (1860) and Academician (1861) at the National Academy of Design, and a member of the American Watercolor Society, Artists Fund Society, and the American Art Union...
Canvas, Oil
Vermont Hillside Farm
By James Hope
Located in Milford, NH
A wonderfully detailed New England landscape by Scottish American artist James Hope (1818-1892). Hope was born in Drygrange, Roxboroughshire, Scotland. After the death of his mother,...
Canvas, Oil
Picnic On The Mohawk
Located in Milford, NH
A wonderful landscape by American artist Thomas Mickell Burnham (1818-1866). Burnham was born in Boston, MA and received informal art training early on, traveling abroad before relo...
Canvas, Oil
1860s American Gilt Frame Eli Wilner Historic Period Collection Hudson River
Located in Jacksonville, FL
An Exceptional Gilt Frame with Historic Provenance This 1860s American Hudson River School frame is a remarkable artifact in its own right, enriched by...
Wood
Antique 1860s Hudson River School Gilt Frame with Egg-and-Dart and Bead Molding
Located in Jacksonville, FL
A beautifully preserved example of mid-19th-century American frame craftsmanship, this giltwood frame from the 1860s reflects the classical elegance favored by the Hudson River Schoo...
Wood
$2,750
H 30 in W 26 in D 1.5 in
'River Birch' by James Cobb, Framed 20" x 16" Oil on Canvas Painting, 2020
By Jim Cobb
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
This framed 19.875" x 16" oil painting on canvas by Oklahoma-based artist James Cobb depicts a strand of river birch trees in freshly fallen snow. at the he...
Canvas, Oil
$1,155
H 24.02 in W 24.02 in
Eleanor Woolley, Poppies Near Naunton 2, Original Painting, Landscape Art
Located in Deddington, GB
Eleanor Woolley Poppies Near Naunton 2 Original Painting Oil Paint on Canvas Canvas Size: H 61cm x W 61cm x D 3.7cm Signed Sold Unframed Ready to Hang (Please note that in situ image...
Canvas, Oil
$125,000
H 12 in W 19 in
19th Century Signed Oil Painting of Sailing Off the Coast, Framed
By William Frederick de Haas
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
This coastal landscape is done by the famed painted William Frederick De Haas (1830-1880). This painting shows two men in a canoe paddling off the cliff shore in the foreground with ...
Canvas, Oil
$2,400
H 14 in W 10 in D 0.5 in
"Old Cypresses by Chapelle Saint Marie" Plein-air painting from North France
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
In this plein air painting, Orsolic Dalessio creates a composition reminiscent of The Hudson River School paintings, but with an impressionistic hand. Along with the studied composit...
Canvas, Oil
$12,000
H 24 in W 32 in
Virginia Sunset Oil Painting, Hudson River School, Mid-19th Century
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
William H. Langworthy (1836–1900) was an American painter known for his contributions to landscape and genre painting during the late 19th century. Little is known about Langworthy's...
Canvas, Oil
$4,500
H 22 in W 28 in
"Bookstore from the Bank" 2017 oil painting, impressionist street scene at night
By Viktor Butko
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Painted en plein air, in Sag Harbor, New York. Situated in the People's United Bank parking lot, Butko looks over to the opposite side of Main Street. Beneath tall, fully bloomed trees, illuminated storefronts glisten after they close up for the day. Victor Butko was born into a long line of artists, and has been mentored in painting since the age of 8. He is currently the youngest artist exhibiting at Thomas Kearns McCarthey Gallery, one of the foremost dealers in the United States for Russian Impressionist art...
Canvas, Oil
$6,000
H 19 in W 29 in
"Grand Manan" Harrison Bird Brown, Maine Landscape, Hudson River School Seascape
Located in New York, NY
Harrison Bird Brown (1831 - 1915) Grand Manan Oil on canvas 12 x 20 inches Signed with initials lower left Harrison Bird Brown was born in 1831 in Portland, Maine, and is best known for his White Mountain landscapes and marine paintings of Maine's Casco Bay...
Canvas, Oil
$12,000
H 21.25 in W 28.5 in
"Harbour of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, " Julius Montalant, Maritime Port Trade
Located in New York, NY
Julius Montalant (1823 - 1898) Harbour of Rio Janeiro, 1843-1850 Oil on canvas 17 x 24 inches Signed and dated lower right; conservator's inscription on the reverse Born in Virginia, probably Norfolk, Julius Montalant is known for his drawings and paintings inspired by his travels on board navy ships. Attached to the USS St. Louis around 1844-45, he sketched ports of call he visited, including Brazil, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, and China. Many of his works are held in the Museum of the U.S. Naval Academy. Navy records indicate his rank as 'C. Clerk', which may mean that he held a civilian position. During the 1850s he lived in Philadelphia, and in 1851-61 he exhibited at the Philadelphia Art Union and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Included were paintings of North America, Greece...
Canvas, Oil
$9,500
H 12 in W 17 in
Early 20th Century Oil Painting of Jamestown, Virginia Landscape
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
John A Mooney is a Virginian artist who has been known to paint trompe loeil and landscape paintings. Born in Buffalo, New York, John A. Mooney (1843-1918) traveled to Georgia to enl...
Canvas, Oil
$5,936
H 28.75 in Dm 13.39 in
Close to Heart 1 & 2 - Wood sculpture by Zlata Kornilova
Located in Paris, FR
Sculpture Close to Heart 1 & 2 Limited edition of 12 (each sculpture) Dimensions: - Close to heart 1 (black): H. 73. x D. 34 cm - Close to heart 2 (natural): H. 82. x D. 22 cm Medi...
Steel
$3,475
H 15 in W 19 in D 2 in
Luminous Hudson River School Landscape Cows Grazing Wide Gold Frame Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
A finely rendered 19th century Hudson River School landscape depicting cattle grazing within an expansive open field, set beneath a softly illuminated sky. The composition is anchore...
Canvas, Oil
$7,600
H 32 in W 42 in D 2 in
Moonrise in the Mountains (Hudson River School Style Nighttime Landscape)
Located in Hudson, NY
Luminist, Hudson River School inspired landscape of Catskill mountains with moonlit blue sky "Moonrise in the Mountains", painted by Hudson Valley artist, Jane Bloodgood-Abrams in 20...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 27.88 in W 42.5 in D 3 in
Charles Louis Heyde 19th c Vermont Landscape Oil Painting, Camel's Hump - Summer
Located in Milford, NH
A fine Vermont landscape oil painting by American artist Charles Louis Heyde (1822-1892). A prominent New England landscape painter, Charles Heyde lived in Vermont from the early 185...
Canvas, Oil
View of the Pemigewasset, New Hampshire
Located in Milford, NH
A wonderful New Hampshire landscape by American artist Charles Wilson Knapp (1823-1900). Knapp was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his work was first exhibited at the Nationa...
Canvas, Oil
Housatonic River at Cornwall
By John William Casilear
Located in Milford, NH
A fine Connecticut river landscape by American Hudson River artist John William Casilear (1811-1893). Casilear was born in New York City, began his study with master engraver Peter M...
Canvas, Oil
Delaware Gap
By Régis François Gignoux
Located in Milford, NH
A finely detailed oil landscape of the Delaware Gap attributed to French American artist Regis Francois Gignoux (1816-1882). Gignoux was born in Lyon, France, and began his studies i...
Canvas, Oil
New England Farm
Located in Milford, NH
A fine large landscape of a New England farm with cows, stone arch bridge, farmhouse and barns by American artist John White Allen Scott (1815-1907). Scott was born in Roxbury, MA and apprenticed with lithographer William Pendleton and later worked with Fitz Henry Lane...
Canvas, Oil
Valley River
Located in Milford, NH
A fine valley river landscape with cows in the style of the Hudson River School by American artist Charles Wilson Knapp (1823-1900). Knapp was bor...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 20 in W 28.75 in D 1.5 in
Sunset over Lake George
Located in Milford, NH
A beautiful 19th century American School oil painting landscape in the Hudson River style, of a sunset over Lake George. Oil on canvas, un...
Canvas, Oil
Pair Hudson River School Autumn Landscape Oil Paintings
Located in Rochester, NY
Pair of Hudson river school oil paintings. Possibly the White mountains. One is monogrammed, see last photo. Oil on board. In original frames, circa 1870's.
Oil, Board
New York Landscape
Located in Milford, NH
A fine New York landscape with cows by American artist Emile Faure Beaulieu (b. 1828, actively exhibiting in the 1850-1860’s). Beaulieu was known as...
Canvas, Oil