Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL STYLE
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.
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Style: Hudson River School
Portraits of a man and Woman Circa 1850-1860 Original Oil on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Portraits of a man and Woman Circa 1850-1860 Original Oil on Paper
Early American portraits in the style of and possibly by Henry Bryan Hall (English/American, 1808-1861) Later in hi...
Category
Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Laid Paper
$2,120 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of African American Man Drinking titled "Evening Revelry"
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
This expressive painting by Francis William Edmunds offers a compelling glimpse into 19th-century American genre painting, a field in which Edmunds was a recognized master. Known for...
Category
Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Antique Early American Southern Hudson River School Boys Swimming Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Rare early American sunset Hudson River School swimming hole painting. Framed. Oil on board. Image size, 7.25H by 10L.
Category
1860s Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
$3,000 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of Mother, Child, and Dog titled "The Cradle and the Companion"
By Henry Bacon
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
This tender interior scene by Henry Bacon captures a moment of warmth and domestic harmony. A young mother leans gently over a carved red cradle while her daughter, dressed in a whit...
Category
Late 19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Wood, Oil
Portrait of Grandmother and Grandson titled "Peeling Apples"
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
John George Brown (1831–1913) was a prominent British-born American painter, renowned for his genre paintings that vividly depict the everyday life of chi...
Category
Late 19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Enjoying Old Times
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
"Enjoying Old Times" by Charles Baker captures a poignant and joyful moment in the life of an older man, immersed in the beauty of nature. The painting features the man in the midst of a hike, his weathered walking stick in one hand, and a bottle of champagne in the other. His gaze is fixed on the bottle, a focused and content expression playing on his lips, suggesting a celebration of memories or perhaps a spontaneous toast to the present moment.
Baker’s use of warm, earthy tones highlights the natural surroundings, with the man standing against a backdrop of greenery, a rocky path, and a clear, open sky. The composition is rich in detail, from the rugged texture of the man’s clothes...
Category
Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Oil Portrait of Child and Baby Sisters Playing
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
This beautiful oil on canvas painting of two sisters playing by the famous American Artist John G Brown has been lined. There is a slight touch up, and i...
Category
Late 19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Portrait of President John Tyler
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
This distinguished oil portrait of President John Tyler was painted by William Garl Brown, one of the South’s most respected portrait artists of the mid-19th century. Capturing Tyler...
Category
Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Young Ladies Sewing
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
"Young Ladies Sewing" by Francis Blackwell Mayer is a charming portrayal of domestic life in the 19th century. Painted by the American artist known for his genre scenes and historica...
Category
Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
PERIOD American Antique Civil War Portrait of Officer and His Horse
Located in New York, NY
American artist Franklin Briscoe (1844-1903) known for his hirtorical and portrait paintings, paints a Civil War piece; it is a portrait of an officer with his white horse.
The brus...
Category
Late 19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Board, Oil
Portrait of Young Woman Sewing in a Rocking Chair
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
"Young Lady Sewing on Rocking Chair" by an 1860s American School artist is a charming watercolor painting that captures a traditionally domestic moment...
Category
Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Children Feeding the Horse
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
This captivating artwork, titled "Children Feeding the Horse", is masterfully executed in rich tones. It depicts two children tenderly feeding a gentle white horse against a familiar...
Category
Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Portrait of Woman with Jewelry
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
Richard Clague was sent to school in Geneva to study painting with Jean-Charles Ferdinand Humbert (1813-1881) where Richard developed a preference for landscape painting. Following his father's death in December, 1836, he received a substantial inheritance which allowed him to continue his studies. After completing his studies, he travelled to Morocco, Algiers and other destinations in the Middle East where he kept a sketchbook (now in the New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana) and developed an interest in Oriental subject matter. Although he was largely trained in Europe, he settled in Louisiana, becoming part of the "Bayou School".He regularly painted with William Buck...
Category
Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
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Hudson River School portrait paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Hudson River School portrait paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 19th Century, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including and John George Brown. Frequently made by artists working with Oil Paint, and Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Hudson River School portrait paintings, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are also available. Prices for portrait paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7,300 and tops out at $55,000, while the average work sells for $12,800.