Hamilton Hamilton (1 April 1847 – 4 January 1928) was a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

, known mostly for his

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

s of the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. Born in

Oxford, England Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, he lived most of his life in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

. He painted landscapes in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, the American West, England, and France. He also painted portraits and drew illustrations.

Artistic career

Hamilton Hamilton was born in

, on 1 April 1847. While young, he was a protégé of

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

. In 1872, he began his mostly self-taught career as a portrait artist in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. He created 47 landscape paintings during an 1873 expedition to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

which were chosen to be part of the 1876

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition, officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official wo ...

in Philadelphia. He spent 1878 and 1879 painting in

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (; in Breton) is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called in French. Pont-Aven absorbed the former commune of Nizon in 1954, which had ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, alongside Barbizon School painters. He moved to New York City in 1881 and shortly after began to practice genre painting and etching. He became an associate member of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

in 1886 and a National Academician in 1889. Until the end of the century, he and his family resided alternately in upstate New York, Long Island, Colorado, and England. In 1907 and 1908, Hamilton spent two years painting landscapes in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. In 1912 he and his family permanently moved to

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

. There he became involved with the Silvermine group of artists led by

Solon Borglum Solon Hannibal de la Mothe Borglum (December 22, 1868 – January 31, 1922) was an American sculptor. He is most noted for his depiction of frontier life, and especially his experience with cowboys and native Americans. He was awarded the Croix ...

. After Borglum's death, he and others founded the

Silvermine Silvermine is a word used in numerous place names around the world. Hong Kong * Silvermine Bay, a bay in Mui Wo, Lantau Island *Silver Mine Bay Beach, also known as Silvermine Bay Beach Ireland *Silvermine Mountains, a mountain range in County T ...

Guild of Artists. At the time of his death, he was known as the dean of the group. His works are in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the

Phoenix Art Museum The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest art museum, museum for visual art in the southwest United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is . It displays international exhibitions alongside its comprehensive collection of more than 18,0 ...

, the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, the

Akron Art Museum The Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, United States. The museum first opened on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library. The Institute offered clas ...

, and the East Hampton Historical Society.

Artistic style

Hamilton was known for his landscape paintings of the American West, New York, Connecticut, England, and France. He used multiple layers of colors to execute his landscapes, suggesting the influence of

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. He also did portraiture and illustrations.

Personal life

Hamilton married Helen McIlhenney (sister of artist Charles Morgan McIlhenney). In 1889, they had twin daughters, Helen and Marguerite, who served as his models. Both daughters grew up to be artists; Helen in particular became a noted

Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

landscape painter. Hamilton died in Norwalk, Connecticut, on 4 January 1928, aged 80.

Paintings

File:Trout Lake, Colorado 1879 - Hamilton Hamilton.jpg, ''Trout Lake, Colorado'' (1879) File:Hamilton Hamilton Falling Apple Blossoms.jpg, ''Falling Apple Blossoms '' File:Hamilton Hamilton Lady with a Parasol.jpg, ''Lady with a Parasol'' File:Hamilton Hamilton Lil-l Southern Belles.jpg, ''Lil Southern Belles'' (1894) File:Hamilton Hamilton Woman with a Fan.jpg, ''Woman with a Fan''

References

External links

*
Artnet Collection of Hamilton's paintingsThe Athanaeum collection of Hamilton's paintingsHamilton Hamilton, American ArtistWorthington Galleries Biography of Hamilton Hamilton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Hamilton 1847 births 1928 deaths English emigrants to the United States 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters American landscape painters Artists from Oxford 19th-century American etchers 20th-century American etchers