Wesley Webber

Lake Shore with Canoe

Signed lower left. Bio: Born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Julie Beers was a younger sister of artists James McDougal Hart and William Hart and grew up in Albany, New York. Her sch...

Signed lower left. Along with Martin Johnson Heade, William Mason Brown was among a very elite group of artists equally adept at landscape painting as well as still-life painting. H...

Signed lower left A 19th-century marine painter, William Bradford is famous for his seascapes that reflect his background of being raised in an area known for whaling and other marine activities. During much of his career, his work focused on the Arctic region, which he depicted with strong color and spectacular lighting. Bradford was born and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts to Quaker parents who disapproved of his desire for a painting career. He became a clerk in his father's dry goods shop in New Bedford but devoted his spare time to sketching, a diversion that caused him and his wife to lose a farm that had been given to them by his father-in- law. In the early 1850s, living in Fairhaven, he launched his professional career by selling portraits of ships for twenty-five dollars a piece. In 1854, he opened a studio and about this same time attracted the interest of Albert Van Beest, a Dutch painter who had come to America in 1845. He became Bradford's teacher and collaborator, and until his death in 1860, they painted together local scenes including seascapes and whaling pictures. In 1861, Bradford began a series of trips to Nova Scotia, Labrador, and Greenland, and painting and photographing the Arctic region became a consuming interest. He also published a book in London titled The Arctic Region, which he vividly illustrated with photographs pasted onto the page and he gave lectures accompanied by lantern slides...

Signed & dated lower right. Known as a painter of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Samuel Griggs was listed as an architect in the Boston City directory from 1848 to 1852, a...

Signed lower right

Signed & dated, lower left, 1869 Herman Ottomar Herzog was born in Bremen, Germany, on November 15, 1831. He studied art at the Dusseldorf Academy, starting in 1848, under several classical landscape painters. In 1855, Herzog made his first visit to Norway. The trip was a milestone in Herzog's career as it exposed him to the rugged landscape of the Norwegian wilderness and instilled in him a lifelong sense of nature that was to show in all his work. During the late 1850's and early 1860's, Herzog's fame spread throughout Europe. His paintings were collected for their dynamic realism and strong atmospheric effects. Among his patrons were several of Europe's royal families, including Queen Victoria of England and Grand Duke Alexander of Russia. He exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1863 and 1864, winning an Honorable Mention. While in Paris, it is thought that Herzog came into contact with the popular Barbizon School, whose adherents painted the grandeur and beauty of Nature in a romantic and realistic style. The effect of the Barbizon painters can also be seen in Herzog's poetic handling of mood and color. Although he was still in Europe, Herzog sent several paintings for exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy from 1863 to 1869. He had several friends in the United States and they were developing a rather good demand for his work. It is not known exactly when Herzog decided to come to America. Sometime in the late 1860's he settled in Philadelphia. Besides wanting a developing market for his work, Herzog left Bremen due to rising political agitation by Prussia, which had just absorbed Bremen into its domain. In America, Herzog continued to paint his romantic landscapes, finding the American wilderness well suited to his style. In 1871, he traveled up the Hudson River on a painting tour. In 1873, he took his first trip west, going to Yosemite, then to Wyoming, Oregon, and along the West Coast to the Coronado Island, near the Mexican border. Herzog made several journeys west, finding each trip more fruitful than the last. He became known for his depictions of Yosemite, receiving great acclaim for a fine El Capitan, much in the style of his fellow countryman and painter Albert Bierstadt. His last trip west was in 1905, at the age of 74. In 1876, Herzog participated in the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, showing a Norwegian scene and a Yosemite landscape...

Hudson River School artist Worthington Whittredge's (1820-1910) Landscape in the Hudson Valley is oil on canvas and measures 11 x 19 inches. The work is signed by the artist at the l...

Hudson River Inlet, 1885 by Hudson River School artist Frank Anderson (1844-1891) is oil on canvas. The work measures 15.13 x 24.25 inches ...

Hudson River School painter Andrew Melrose's (1836-1901) "Meadow and Mountain at Sunset" is oil on canvas and measures 12 x 18 inches. The painting is signed by Melrose at the lower left. The work is framed in and ready to hang. Little is known about the early life of Scottish-born artist Andrew Melrose, though available literature often notes that he was largely self-taught. He is thought to have come to America in 1856, stopping in New York before moving on to Toronto. Within ten years, Melrose, along with his wife, had relocated to the New York area. His first great success came in 1867 when he was commissioned by the Chicago and Northwestern...

JOHN FREDERICK KENSETT (1816-1872) Woodland Waterfall Oil on canvas 14 x 12 inches Signed lower right

Painted by Hudson River School artist Frederick Rondel, Sr. (1826-1892), "Haying in the Hudson River Valley" is oil on canvas, measures 10.25 x 14 inches, and is signed by Rondel at ...

Hudson River School artist Ernest Parton's (1845-1933) "Anglers on an Adirondack Lake" is oil on canvas, measures 10 x 20 inches, and is signed and dated 1871 at the lower left. The ...