Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 16

John William Hill
Catskill Sawmill

1854

About the Item

Afternoon In The Hudson River Valley, 1854 By. John William Hill (English, American, 1812-1879) Signed and Dated Lower Left Unframed: 20 x 30 inches Framed: 23.5 x 33.5 inches John William Hill or often J.W. Hill (January 13, 1812 – September 24, 1879) was a British-born American artist working in watercolor, gouache, lithography, and engraving. Hill's work focused primarily upon natural subjects including landscapes, still lifes, and ornithological and zoological subjects. In the 1850s, influenced by John Ruskin and Hill's association with American followers of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, his attention turned from technical illustration toward still life and landscape. Born in London, Hill was the son of British aquatint engraver John Hill. He emigrated with his parents from London to the United States in 1819, initially living in Philadelphia. In 1822 the family moved to New York, where Hill apprenticed in aquatint engraving in his father's shop. In 1838 Hill married Catherine Smith. Their children included the astronomer George William Hill and the painter John Henry Hill. He died in West Nyack, New York. In watercolor and aquatint engravings, Hill employed a stipple technique, building up planes of softly graduated colors made of tiny brushstrokes–a process commonly seen in painted miniatures. Applied to a larger scale on canvas the result was a form of objective realism in contrast with more common romanticized works of mid-19th century American painting. In 1829, at the age of 17, Hill began exhibiting watercolors and engravings produced in his father's studio at the Brooklyn Art Association and the National Academy of Design. In 1833, at the age of 21, Hill was elected to associate membership in the National Academy of Design. In his early twenties Hill began work for the New York State Geological Survey, first creating a series of topographic studies and overhead views of principle American cities and towns. This work was distinct for its accuracy of aerial perspective and recording minute architectural detail. These portraits of urban settlement required frequent travel to observe, sketch, and map before creating finished watercolor studies. The completed watercolors were then recreated as color lithographic art and published by the Smith Brothers, a New York City publisher. Hill's work with the New York State Geological Survey continued later with his illustration of James Ellsworth De Kay's Zoology of New York State, or; The New-York Fauna. Part II, Birds published in 1844. Like John James Audubon's bird portraits, Hill's were painted with an objective eye, documenting accurate anatomy and colors, and capturing the animal's natural countenance. While in his early forties Hill read John Ruskin's Modern Painters, and became fascinated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The Pre-Raphaelite movement's combination of realism with increased emotional content appealed to Hill. Hill championed Pre-Raphaelite painting methods in the United States, but was less fascinated with their ideals. In 1863, with art critic Clarence Cook, geologist Clarence King, and architect Russell Sturgis, Hill helped to found the Society for the Advancement of Truth in Art.[1] For the remainder of Hill's life he produced landscapes, mostly of the mountainous areas of New England and New York state. Hill's paintings and engravings are found in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Amon Carter Museum, Fogg Museum, the Hood Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Hudson River Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
More From This SellerView All
  • Autumn Idle, Catskills, New York, October 23, 1885
    By Jervis McEntee
    Located in Missouri, MO
    Autumn Idle, Catskills, New York, October 23, 1885 By. Jervis McEntee (American, 1828-1891) Unframed: 11.5" x 16" Framed: 20.5" x 25" Jervis McEntee was a landscape painter, born in 1828 in the Hudson River Valley in Rondout, New York. It was said that 'Nostalgia may well have been McEntee's middle name", and that he, always attempting to stir emotions in his viewers, often attached poetry to his paintings when exhibiting them. At a time when the Civil War and its after effects caused great disruption in America, McEntee's work may have provided a visual escape for the more educated. His works are rich with the colors of autumn and winter, and he, who often painted in the Catskill Mountains, preferred smaller views rather than panoramas. Usually detailed and simple, his works often reflect a sense of loneliness. As a youngster, McEntee would play in his parents attic, pretending it was an art studio. An unsuccessful attempt at business led McEntee back into the art profession where he studied in New York City under the influence of Frederic E. Church, master of the Hudson River Style, and soon had a showing of his own in the famous Tenth Street Studio Building by 1855. In about 1858, Mr. and Mrs. McEntee hired English architect Calvert Vaux to build a studio next to McEntee's fathers house in Rondout. There Jervis would spend most of his summers, painting the nearby Catskill Mountains, and returning to the city during the winter. At the outbreak of the Civil War, McEntee enlisted in the Union...
    Category

    Late 19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • White and Blue
    By Nicola Simbari
    Located in Missouri, MO
    Canvas Size: approx 32 x 39 inches Framed Size: approx. 37 x 45 inches Nicola Simbari is a painter of semi-abstract impressionist works. He is a colorist who favors brilliant tones...
    Category

    Late 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Floral Still Life in Cameo Pot
    Located in Missouri, MO
    Floral Still Life in Cameo Pot Franz Leitgeb (Austrian, 1911-1997) Signed Lower Right 33 x 27 inches 40.5 x 34.5 inches
    Category

    20th Century Realist Still-life Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • Boulevard des Capucines et Rue de Madelaine
    By Édouard Leon Cortès
    Located in Missouri, MO
    Boulevard des Capucines et Rue de Madelaine Edouard Cortes (French, 1882-1969) Signed Lower right 18 x 22 inches 25 x 29 inches with frame Cortès was born in Lagny, France on April ...
    Category

    20th Century Impressionist Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • The Deer Hunters
    Located in Missouri, MO
    Laverne Nelson Black (American, 1887-1938) "The Deer Hunters" Signed Lower Left Canvas: 24 x 22 inches Framed: 30.5 x 28.5 inches Born in Viola,...
    Category

    Early 20th Century American Impressionist Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Spring
    By Constantin Kluge
    Located in Missouri, MO
    Spring Constantin Kluge (Russian, Latvian, 1912-2003) Signed Lower Right 29.5 x 36.5 inches 36.5 x 44 inches framed He was born in Riga, Latvia, on January 29, 1912 to Russian paren...
    Category

    20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like
  • Landscape in the Hudson Valley by Worthington Whittredge (American, 1820-1910)
    By Worthington Whittredge
    Located in New York, NY
    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...
    Category

    19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Hudson River Inlet, 1885 by American artist Frank Anderson (American: 1844-1891)
    By Frank Anderson
    Located in New York, NY
    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 ...
    Category

    19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Meadow and Mountain at Sunset by Andrew Melrose (Scottish-American, 1836-1901)
    By Andrew Melrose
    Located in New York, NY
    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...
    Category

    19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Woodland Waterfall by John Frederick Kensett (American: 1816-1872)
    By John Frederick Kensett
    Located in New York, NY
    JOHN FREDERICK KENSETT (1816-1872) Woodland Waterfall Oil on canvas 14 x 12 inches Signed lower right
    Category

    19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Haying in the Hudson River Valley by Frederick Rondel, Sr. (American, 1826-1892)
    Located in New York, NY
    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 ...
    Category

    19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Anglers on an Adirondack Lake by Ernest Parton (American, 1845-1933)
    By Ernest Parton
    Located in New York, NY
    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 ...
    Category

    19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

Recently Viewed

View All