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.
$8,500
THOMAS MORAN Grand Canyon of Arizona from Hermit Rim Road 1912 Chromolithograph
By Thomas Moran
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
IN PRISTINE CONDITION. A color Chromolithograph published by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 1912 after the original oil painting, “Gr...
Paper, Lithograph
St. Valentine's Day -- The Old Story in All Lands
Located in Fairlawn, OH
St. Valentine's Day -- The Old Story in All Lands Wood engraving, 1868 Published in: Harper's Weekly, February 22, 1868 Titled and signed in the block Image size: 13 5/8 x 9 inches C...
Engraving
The Jolly Flat Boat Men
By George Caleb Bingham
Located in Missouri, MO
The Jolly Flat Boat Men, 1847 After George Caleb Bingham (American, 1811-1879) Engraved by Thomas Doney (French, active New York 1844-1849) Engraving with Hand-Coloring Published by The American Art-Union, New York (1838-1851) Printed by Powell and Co. 18 x 24 inches 32 x 38 inches with frame In 1847, the American Art-Union purchased Bingham’s painting "The Jolly Flat Boat Men" (1846; National Gallery of Art) directly from the artist. The subscription-based organization, founded in 1838 as the Apollo Association, boasted nearly ten-thousand members at this date. For an annual fee of five dollars, each received a large reproductive engraving and was entered in a lottery to win original artworks exhibited at the Art-Union’s Free Gallery. Aimed at educating the public about contemporary American art, the organization developed an impressive distribution network that reached members in every state. The broad circulation of the Art-Union's print helped to establish Bingham's reputation and made his river scene famous. Born in Augusta County, Virginia in the Shenandoah River Valley, George Caleb Bingham became known for classically rendered western genre, especially Missouri and Mississippi River scenes of boatmen bringing cargo to the American West and politicians seeking to influence frontier life. One of his most famous river genre paintings was The Jolly Flatboatmen completed in several versions in 1846. This first version of this painting is in the Manoogian Collection at the National Gallery of Art. Fame resulted for this work when it was exhibited in New York at the American Art Union whose organizers made an engraving of 10,000 copies and distributed it to all of their members. Paintings such as Country Politician (1849) and County Election (1852) and Stump Speaking (1854) reflected Bingham's political interests. In 1819, as an eight-year old, he moved to Boon's Lick, Missouri with his parents and grandfather who had been farmers and inn keepers in the Shenandoah Valley near Rockingham, Virginia. Reportedly as a child there, he took every opportunity to escape supervision to travel the River and watch the marine activity. His father died in 1827, when his son was sixteen years old. His mother had encouraged his art talent, but art lessons were not easily obtainable. In order to earn money, he apprenticed to a cabinet maker but determined to become an artist. By 1835, he had a modest reputation as a frontier painter and successfully charged twenty dollars per portrait in St. Louis. "His portraits had become standard decorations in prosperous Missouri homes." (Samuels 46). In 1836, he moved to Natchez, Mississippi and there had the same kind of career, only was able to charge forty dollars per portrait. He remained largely self taught until 1837, when he, age 26 and using the proceeds from his portraiture, studied several months at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He later said that he learned much of his atmospheric style and classically balanced composition by copying paintings in collections in St. Louis and Philadelphia and that among his most admired painters were Thomas Cole, John Vanderlyn, and William Sidney Mount. Between 1856 and 1859, Bingham traveled back and forth to Dusseldorf, Germany, where he studied the work of genre painters. Some critics think these influences were negative on his work because during that time period, he abandoned his luminist style that had brought him so much public affirmation. Bingham credited Chester Harding (1792-1866) as being the earliest and one of the most lasting influences on his work. Harding,a leading portraitists when Bingham was a young man, had a studio in Franklin, near Bingham's home town. In 1822, when Bingham was ten years old, he watched Harding finish a portrait of Daniel Boone. Bingham recalled that watching Harding with the Boone portrait was a lasting inspiration and that it was the first time he had ever seen a painting in progress. Harding suggested to Bingham that he begin doing portraiture by finding subjects in the river men, which, of course, opened the subject matter that established fame and financial success for Bingham. Harding also encouraged Bingham to copy with paint engravings. He later painted two portraits of Boone but, contrary to the assertions of some scholars, he did not do Boone portraits in the company of Harding. Bingham's portraits of Boone are not located, but one of them, a wood signboard for a hotel in Boonville circa 1828 to 1830, showed a likeness of Boone in buckskin dress...
Engraving
Bathing at Long Branch Woodcut Print, Hudson River School, 1871
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Bathing at Long Branch-“Oh, Ain’t it Cold” Wood engraving, 1871 Signed in the block with the artist's initials "WH", see photo Published in: Every Saturday, Aug. 16, 1871 Condition: ...
Woodcut
Trees and Fields, Print Club of Cleveland
By Peter Takal
Located in Berlin, MD
“Trees and Fields” lithograph commissioned for the Print Club of Cleveland by Peter Takal Peter Takal’s original lithograph “Trees and Fields” is an accomplished work of art created in 1957. This lithograph bears the stamp “The Print Club of Cleveland” on verso. This impression is signed by Takal in pencil. “Trees and Fields” is a fine example of the art created by the 20th century Romanian / German / American artist, Peter Takal. Peter Takal: Born in Romania in 1905, Peter Takal spent most of his youth in Berlin and was mainly self-taught. His first one-man exhibition took place in the Gurlitt Gallery, Berlin, in 1932. During the following seven years his art was frequently exhibited at galleries in Berlin, Munich, Paris and as well as Casablanca and Algiers. At the beginning of the Second World War (1939), Peter Takal came to the United States for an exhibition of his art at the Katherine Kuhe Gallery, Chicago. He decided to remain in the United States and became an American citizen in 1944. Living in New York, Peter Takal quickly established himself as a leading printmaker and a modern master of both lithography and drypoint engraving. One-man exhibitions of his art took place in New York City (1942), Chicago (1939 & 1941), Washington (1959) and Los Angeles (1966). International exhibitions of his art were held at the Galeria de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City (1959), the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy (1960) and at the Kestner-Museum in Germany (1962). Museums to date that include Peter Takal's original prints in their collections are, the Chicago Art Institute, the Library of Congress, Washington, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the United States State Department, UCLA, the Berlin National Museum and the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Over the years, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Arkansas Arts Center have acquired a very extensive collection of Peter Takal's lithographs and drypoints. The artist died in 1995. The Print Club of Cleveland: The Print Club of Cleveland is a non-profit adjunct organization and the country's first museum-affiliated print club devoted to the promotion of art and printmaking as a fine art for printmakers and collectors alike. With its creation in 1919, it has helped to support the growth of the department of prints and drawings at the Cleveland Museum of Fine Arts and has also been a source of great enrichment for collectors of fine prints. During the organizations long history, the club has annually commissioned one original etching engraving, lithograph, woodcut and or other form of original graphic art from such fine American artists as John Taylor Arms, Suzanne Anker, Luigi Lucioni, Will Barnet, Mark Tobey, Lyonel Feininger, Henry George Keller, Louis Lozowick, Karl Schrag, David Jansheski, Deborah Remington, and Peter Takal, as well as from leading international artists such as Henri Matisse, Edmund Blampied, Jean-Emile Laboureur, Salvador Dali, Michael di Cerbo, Phyliss Sloane, Paolo Boni, Juvenal Sanso...
Lithograph
On the Beach at Long Branch Woodcut Print, Hudson River School, 1874
Located in Fairlawn, OH
On the Beach at Long Branch - The Children's Hour Wood engraving, 1874 Published in "Harper's Weekly" August 15, 1874 (p. 672) Image size: 9 1/4 x 13 5/8 inches Provenance: Wunderlic...
Woodcut
$14,175
19th century etching black and white seascape print boats water buildings signed
By Thomas Moran
Located in Milwaukee, WI
This black and white etching by American painter and print maker of the Hudson River School in New York: Thomas Moran, is a rare Klackner #53 of the catalogue raisonné, depicting "The Harbor of Vera...
Parchment Paper, Etching
Notre-Dame Cathedral from the Seine
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching with drypoint on cream wove paper, 7 x 8 3/4 inches (177 x 223 mm); sheet 10 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches (267 x 300 mm), full margins. Signed V. E. Chapel and numbered 62/250 in penc...
Etching, Drypoint
$1,500
H 15 in W 20 in
Lux Aeterna I (Eternal Light -The Requiem/ copters hover over fearful refugees)
By Ana Maria Pacheco
Located in New Orleans, LA
Ana Maria Pacheco portrays the fear and feelings of the displacement of refugees cowering beneath helicopters overhead. The title of the work refers ...
Drypoint
$850
H 18 in W 15 in
'Village du Var, Côte d'Azur', Academie Chaumiere, France, Benezit
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Georges Lambert' (French, 1919-1998), inscribed, lower center, 'Village du Var' and, lower left, with number and limitation, '52/120'. Georges Lambert first stu...
Paper, Lithograph
$12,000
H 16 in W 20 in D 0.8 in
Grant Wood Original Pencil Signed Lithograph, 1940 - February
By Grant Wood
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Original pencil signed Grant Wood lithograph, "February," created 1940. A fine impression and one of the most important of the 19 lithographs created by the painter of "American Goth...
Paper, Lithograph
Un coin de cour
Located in Middletown, NY
Paris: Sarazin, 1865. Etching with engraving on Chine collé mounted to wove paper with a false platemark, 5 3/8 x 4 1/4 (137 x 108 mm); matrix 12 1/4 x 16 3/4 inches (312 x 425 mm),...
Handmade Paper, Engraving, Etching
$900
H 16.25 in W 20.25 in
"Fishing Village" Joe Jones, Mid-Century, American Life, Small Town Scene
By Joe Jones
Located in New York, NY
Joe Jones Fishing Village, 1949 Signed in pencil lower right margin Lithograph on wove paper Image 9 5/16 x 12 9/16 inches Sheet 12 x 15 15/16 inches From the edition of 250 The initial details of Jones' career are sparse, and this is intentional. The young artist was engaged in a process of self-reinvention, crafting a persona. When he submitted a work to the Sixteen Cities Exhibition at New York City's Museum of Modern Art in 1933, he briefly characterized himself: "Born St. Louis, 1909, self-taught. " Jones intentionally portrayed himself to the art community as an authentic working-class figure, backed by a compelling history. He was the youngest of five children in a family led by a one-armed house painter from St. Louis, a Welsh immigrant, and his German American spouse. At the age of ten, Jones found himself in a Missouri reformatory due to authorities' concerns over his graffiti activities. After completing elementary school, he traveled by freight car to California and back, even being arrested for vagrancy in Pueblo, Colorado. Returning to St. Louis, he attempted to settle down by working alongside his father. Yet, Jones felt a profound restlessness and was drawn toward a more elevated artistic pursuit in his late teenage years. He discovered a local collective of budding artists that formed St. Louis’s "Little Bohemia," sharing a studio and providing mutual support until he managed to secure his own modest workspace in a vacant garage. Jones’s initial creations comprised still lifes, landscapes, and poignant portraits of those close to him. These subjects were not only accessible but also budget-friendly, as hiring models was beyond his means. He depicted himself, his father, mother, and eventually, his wife. In December 1930, at the age of 21, Jones wed Freda Sies, a modern dancer and political activist who was four years older than him. By 1933, Jones had started gaining noteworthy local recognition through a solo exhibition at the Artists’ Guild of Saint Louis. Of the twenty-five paintings on display, one, titled River Front (private collection, previously with Hirschl and Adler Galleries), was selected to illustrate a feature article about his show in The Art Digest (February 15, 1933, p. 9). Shortly before this exhibition, a young surgeon named Dr. Robert Elman took an interest in Jones’s art, purchasing several pieces and forming a group of potential patrons committed to providing the emerging artist with a monthly stipend in exchange for art. This group was officially known as the "Co-operative Art Society," but it was informally dubbed the "Joe Jones Club. " Jones became an active participant in the St. Louis artistic scene, particularly within its bohemian segments. He embraced modernism and was a founding member of the "New Hat" movement in 1931, a playful rebellion against the conservative and traditional mainstream art establishment. The summer of 1933 marked a significant shift in Jones’s journey. Sponsored by a dedicated ally, Mrs. Elizabeth Green, Jones, along with Freda and Green, embarked on an eastward road trip. In Washington, D. C., they explored the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Freer Gallery (part of the Smithsonian Institution), the Library of Congress, and Mount Vernon. Following this whirlwind of art and American culture, they made their way to New York, where they visited various museums and galleries, including a stop at The New School for Social Research, which featured notable contemporary murals by fellow Missourian Thomas Hart Benton and the politically active Mexican artist, José Clemente Orozco. From June through August, Jones and Freda resided in the artist colony of Provincetown, Massachusetts, later returning home via Detroit to see Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry mural housed at the Detroit Institute of Fine Arts. While Elizabeth Green allegedly hoped that Jones would refine his artistic skills under the guidance of Charles Hawthorne or Richard Miller in Provincetown, Jones followed a different path. Rather than pursuing conservative mentors, he connected with an engaging network of leftist intellectuals, writers, and artists who dedicated their time to reading Marx and applying his theories to the American landscape. Jones's reaction to the traditional culture of New England was captured in his statement to a reporter from the St. Louis Post Dispatch: “Class consciousness . . . that’s what I got of my trip to New England. Those people [New Englanders] are like the Chinese—ancestor worshipers. They made me realize where I belong” (September 21, 1933). The stark social divisions he witnessed there prompted him to embrace his working-class identity even more fervently. Upon returning to St. Louis, he prominently identified himself as a Communist. This newfound political stance created friction with some of his local supporters. Many of his middle-class advocates withdrew their backing, likely influenced not only by Jones’s politics but also by his flamboyant and confrontational demeanor. In December 1933, Jones initiated a complimentary art class for unemployed individuals in the Old Courthouse of St. Louis, the same location where the Dred Scott case was deliberated and where slave auctions formerly took place. Concurrently, the St. Louis Art League was offering paid courses. Emphasizing the theme of social activism, with a studio adorned with Soviet artwork, Jones’s institution operated for just over a year before being removed from the courthouse by local officials. The school’s political focus and unconventional teaching practices, along with its inclusion of a significant number of African American students during a period marked by rigid racial segregation, certainly contributed to its challenges. Under Jones’s guidance, the class created a large chalk pastel mural on board, measuring 16 by 37 feet, titled Social Unrest in St. Louis. Mural painting posed no challenge for the former housepainter, who was adept at handling large wall surfaces. His first significant commission in St. Louis in late 1931 was a mural that celebrated the city’s industrial and commercial fortitude for the local radio station, KMOX. This mural, aimed at conveying optimism amid severe economic hardship, showcased St. Louis's strengths in a modernist approach. When Jones resumed mural work in late 1933, his worldview had evolved considerably. The mural produced for the school in the courthouse, conceived by Jones, featured scenes of modern St. Louis selected to highlight political messages. Jones had observed the technique of utilizing self-contained scenes to craft visual narratives in the murals he encountered in the East. More locally, this compositional strategy was commonly employed by the renowned Missouri artist...
Paper, Lithograph
$580
H 23.23 in W 32.09 in
Rent Day, English antique engraving after Sir David Wilkie
By Sir David Wilkie
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Rent Day' Engraving by Abraham Raimbach (1776-1843) after Sir David Wilkie RA (1785-1841). Circa 1820. 'Second Plate' printed under engraver's name. Wilkie was an important Scot...
Engraving
$65
H 16.15 in W 11.03 in
Die Nacht (The Night), nude and cupids, German antique engraving
By Virgilio Tojetti
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Die Nacht' (The Night) German wood-engraving, 1903. 310mm by 230mm (image) 410mm by 280mm (sheet)
Engraving
Modern American Industrial Landscape
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original woodblock print dated 1965, titled "Our Town" but signed illegibly.
Paper, Woodcut
Female Figure and Skeletal Woodcut
By Paul Koch
Located in Houston, TX
Woodcut of female figure and skeleton by English artist Paul Koch, 1964. Signed lower right. 23/200 Original artwork on paper displayed on a white mat with a gold border. Mat fits ...
Woodcut
Time Line, Conceptual Lithograph by Dennis A. Oppenheim
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Dennis Oppenheim, American (1938 - 2011) Title: Time Line Kent, Maine Year: 1979 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 150, AP 3...
Lithograph
$75
H 10.63 in W 6.89 in
Nicolas Poussin, French painter, 19th century artist portrait engraving print
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'N Poussin' Steel-engraving, by J Posselwhite after a self-portrait by Poussin. C1850. 125mm by 100mm (image) 270mm by 175mm (sheet) Nicolas Poussin was a French painter who was ...
Engraving
Sold
H 34 in W 37 in
"The Jolly Flatboatmen" Missouri River Frontier Old West, Louisiana Purchase
By George Caleb Bingham
Located in New York, NY
George Caleb Bingham (1811 - 1879) The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1846 Engraving on paper Sheet 23 x 26 1/2 inches Inscription below image left and right corners reads: "Painted by G.C. Bingham, esq," "Engraved by T. Doney," "Printed by Powell and co." Published by the American Art Union, New York. Provenance: Saunders Fine Art, Stone Mountain, Geogia Dr. Mark C. Wood Thomasville Cultural Center, Thomasville, Georgia (gifted to from the above in 1991) Born in Augusta County, Virginia in the Shenandoah River Valley, George Caleb Bingham became known for classically rendered western genre, especially Missouri and Mississippi River scenes of boatmen bringing cargo to the American West and politicians seeking to influence frontier life. One of his most famous river genre paintings was The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1846. The first version of this painting is in the Manoogian Collection at the National Gallery of Art. Fame resulted for this work when it was exhibited in New York at the American Art Union, whose organizers made an engraving of 10,000 copies and distributed it to all of their members. Paintings such as Country Politician (1849) and County Election (1852) and Stump Speaking (1854) reflected Bingham's political interests. In 1819, as an eight-year old, he moved to Boon's Lick, Missouri with his parents and grandfather who had been farmers and millers in the Shenandoah Valley near Rockingham, Virginia. Reportedly as a child there, he took every opportunity to escape supervision to travel the River and watch the marine activity. His father died in 1823, when his son was 12 years old. His mother had encouraged his art talent, but art lessons were not easily obtainable. In order to earn money, he apprenticed to a cabinet maker but determined to become an artist. By 1835, he had a modest reputation as a frontier painter and successfully charged twenty dollars per portrait in St. Louis. "His portraits had become standard decorations in prosperous Missouri homes." (Samuels 46). In 1836, he moved to Natchez, Mississippi and there had the same kind of career, only was able to charge forty dollars per portrait. He remained largely self taught until 1837, when he, age 26 and using the proceeds from his portraiture, studied several months at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He later said that he learned much of his atmospheric style and classically balanced composition by copying paintings in collections in St. Louis and Philadelphia and that among his most admired painters were Thomas Cole, John Vanderlyn, and William Sidney Mount. Between 1856 and 1859, Bingham traveled back and forth to Dusseldorf, Germany, where he studied the work of genre painters. Some critics think these influences were negative on his work because during that time period, he abandoned his luminist style that had brought him so much public affirmation. Bingham credited Chester Harding (1792-1866) as being the earliest and one of the most lasting influences on his work. Harding, a leading portraitist when Bingham was a young man, had a studio in Franklin, near Bingham's home town. In 1822, when Bingham was ten years old, he watched Harding finish a portrait of Daniel Boone...
Paper, Engraving
Sold
H 27 in W 35 in
Grand Canyon of Arizona from Hermit Rim Road 1912 (Color Chromolithograph)
By Thomas Moran
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
A Chromolithograph published by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 1912 after the original oil painting commissioned by the AT&SF railroad. According to Nancy K. Anderson,...
Paper, Lithograph
The Army of the Potomac-A Sharp Shooter on Picket Duty
Located in Fairlawn, OH
The Army of the Potomac-A Sharp Shooter on Picket Duty Woodengraving, 1862 Published in: Harper’s Weekly, November 15, 1862 Signed in the block...
Woodcut
August in the Country-The Seashore
Located in Fairlawn, OH
August in the Country-The Seashore Wood engraving, 1859 Signed in the block (see photo) Published in Harper's Weekly, August 27, 1859 Condition: Usual vintage condition with folds, c...
Woodcut
Deer Stalking in the Adirondacks in Winter
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Deer Stalking in the Adirondacks in Winter Wood engraving, 1871 Signed in the block (see photo) Published in: Every Saturday, Jan. 21, 1871 Engraved by G. A. Avery Exhibited: Indianapolis Museum of Art, Nov. 25 to Jan. 26, 1981 and later throughout Indiana on the S.T.E.P. traveling exhibition. (This impression) Reference: Beam 188 Goodrich 54 Provenance: Roman Radecki, Sr., South Bend...
Woodcut
Sold
H 39.38 in W 82.68 in
Triptych, Desert Palm Trio, Multipanel Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper, 100x210cm
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
Exclusive handprinted limited edition cyanotype. This triptych is titled "Desert Palm Trio" and shows three different type of palm trees. Details: + Title: Desert Palm Trio + Year...
Photographic Film, Emulsion, Watercolor, C Print, Color, Monotype, Photo...
Sold
H 27 in W 35 in
Grand Canyon of Arizona from Hermit Rim Road 1912 (Color Chromolithograph)
By Thomas Moran
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
A Chromolithograph published by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 1912 after the original oil painting commissioned by the AT&SF railroad. According to Nancy K. Anderson,...
Paper, Lithograph
Grand Canyon of Arizona from Hermit Rim Road
By Thomas Moran
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
A Chromolithograph published by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 1912 after the original oil painting commissioned by the AT&SF railroad...
Paper, Lithograph
Grand Canyon of Arizona from Hermit Rim Road
By Thomas Moran
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
A Chromolithograph published by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 1912 after the original oil painting commissioned by the AT&SF rail...
Paper, Lithograph