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Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor 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
Returnable Items Only
Spring Thaw (Hudson River School Style Landscape Pastel Drawing, Gold Frame)
Located in Hudson, NY
Hudson River School inspired landscape in oil pastel of a countryside sunset "Spring Thaw" by Judy Reynolds 24 x 36 inches, 30 x 43 inches framed Signed, lower left This landscape ...
Category

2010s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel, Paper

Rare 19th Century Watercolor and Platinotype -- Coming Home
By Edward Lamson Henry
Located in Soquel, CA
Rare 19th Century Watercolor and Platinotype -- Coming Home Wonderful and rare 19th Century watercolor and platinotype (Watercolor over Platinum photograph) attributed to Edward Lamson Henry...
Category

Late 19th Century Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Platinum, Paper, Watercolor

“View of Mount Shasta, California”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original pastel on heavy card stock (made in Paris) by the well known Hudson River artist, George Douglas Brewerton. A view of Mount Shasta in Northern California. Signed lower left. Circa 1880. Condition is excellent. The artwork is housed in its original scroll decorated frame. Overall framed measurements are 33.25 by 19 inches. Provenance: A East Coast Florida estate. George Douglas Brewerton received lessons in art from Prof. Robert W. Weir at West Point where his father was Superintendent. In 1874, he was detailed to San Francisco as an officer in the Stevenson Regiment. In 1848, he underwent many adventures in Western deserts and mountains with Kit Carson, who crossed the country with news of the California Gold Rush. After serving as an aide to Gen. Rufus Saxton during the Civil War, Brewerton called himself “Colonel,” although he never received an army commission...
Category

1870s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel, Archival Paper

Sunset, Along the Front Range, Colorado, 1900s Traditional Landscape Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Original signed framed vintage landscape painting by Charles Partridge Adams (1858-1942) of a Sunset along the Front Range of Colorado (near D...
Category

Early 20th Century Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Portrait of Man with Shovel
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
This painting depicts a man standing confidently with a shovel. This is an American School, likely Hudson River School drawing from the 1860s or 1870s. This 19th century unsigned painting...
Category

Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Graphite

“Seaside Cliffs, California”
Located in Southampton, NY
Beautiful original pastel on archival card stock from Paris of the craggy seaside cliffs of California by the well known Hudson River artist, George Douglas Bremerton. Signed lower left. Circa 1880. Condition is excellent. Under glass. The artwork is housed in its original ornate scroll designed frame. Overall framed measurements are 33 by 19 inches. Provenance: A East Coast Florida estate. George Douglas Brewerton received lessons in art from Prof. Robert W. Weir at West Point where his father was Superintendent. In 1874, he was detailed to San Francisco as an officer in the Stevenson Regiment. In 1848, he underwent many adventures in Western deserts and mountains with Kit Carson, who crossed the country with news of the California Gold Rush. After serving as an aide to Gen. Rufus Saxton during the Civil War, Brewerton called himself “Colonel,” although he never received an army commission...
Category

1870s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel, Archival Paper

American Watercolor Atlantic City New Jersey Coast Beach Sunset Signed Date 1875
Located in Portland, OR
A fine and important painting by the celebrated American Hudson River School painter William Trost Richards (1833-1905), the painting depicting the coastline at sunset Atlantic City, NJ, signed and dated 1875. This watercolor is fresh to the market from a private American collection, in the same family hands since the 1920's and housed in the original bronzed frame, condition is all original, we at Bloomsbury Fine Art had the work professionally remounted in archival acid free materials and UV glass. Condition is excellent. Framed: 20.25" tall x 30.25" wide x 1" deep At sight: 10.5" tall x 20.5" wide William Trost Richards was born in Philadelphia and began to draw at a young age. At thirteen he was forced to leave school to support his family and found a job designing ornamental metal fixtures. He continued to study art, eventually taking classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and exhibiting his first work there in 1852. In 1855 he made the first of several trips to Europe to look at art. An admirer of the great American landscape artists of his day, Frederic Edwin Church and John F...
Category

1870s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

“Near Mount Shasta, California”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original pastel on archival paper by the well known Hudson River artist, George Douglas Brewerton. A Northern California scene near Mount Shasta. Signed lower left and dated 1876. Recently professionally matted and framed in new antique silver style gallery frame. Overall framed measurements are 27 by 36 inches. Under glass. Condition is excellent. Provenance: A Pennsylvania collector. George Douglas Brewerton received lessons in art from Prof. Robert W. Weir at West Point where his father was Superintendent. In 1874, he was detailed to San Francisco as an officer in the Stevenson Regiment. In 1848, he underwent many adventures in Western deserts and mountains with Kit Carson, who crossed the country with news of the California Gold Rush. After serving as an aide to Gen. Rufus Saxton during the Civil War, Brewerton called himself “Colonel,” although he never received an army commission...
Category

1870s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel, Archival Paper

“View of Mount Shasta, California”
Located in Southampton, NY
Beautiful original pastel on archival paper of Mount Shasta in Northern California by the well known Hudson River artist, George Douglas. Signed and dated 1874 lower right. Condition is excellent. Recently professionally matted and framed in a antique silver style gallery frame. Overall framed measurements are 27 by 36 inches. Under glass. Provenance: A Pennsylvania collector. George Douglas Brewerton received lessons in art from Prof. Robert W. Weir at West Point where his father was Superintendent. In 1874, he was detailed to San Francisco as an officer in the Stevenson Regiment. In 1848, he underwent many adventures in Western deserts and mountains with Kit Carson, who crossed the country with news of the California Gold Rush. After serving as an aide to Gen. Rufus Saxton during the Civil War, Brewerton called himself “Colonel,” although he never received an army commission...
Category

1870s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Archival Paper, Pastel

Pair of Antique original American Hudson River School drawings 1881 Framed
Located in Buffalo, NY
A pair of rare 19th Century Hudson River School drawings dated 1881. These two treasures come housed in black frames.
Category

1880s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Graphite

'Woodland Stream', Paris, New York, Hudson River School, Luminism, AIC, PAFA
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Arthur Parton' (American, 1842-1914) and painted circa 1885. This notable Hudson River School painter first studied under William Trost Richards, from whom he gained a grounding in the technical aspects of his craft, and, subsequently, at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. While in Philadelphia, he began to exhibit with success and, in 1864, moved to New York where he continued to exhibit before leaving for Europe in 1869. In France, he was influenced by the works of the Barbizon painters and then furthered his studies in Paris and London (1870) before continuing to Scotland (1871). Upon his return to America, he would go on to establish himself as a major figure in the art world, maintaining a studio at 51 West 10th Street from 1874 to 1893. Best known for his landscapes of the Adirondacks and Catskill Mountains, Parton also painted in England and Scotland. During his career, he explored several styles including Tonalism and Impressionism, but remained closely influenced by the Hudson River style including Luminism. Parton was a member of the American Watercolor Society, the Artists Fund Society and, from 1871, the National Academy of Design, becoming a National Academician in 1884. Parton exhibited widely and with success including at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (1907-1908, 1910), Brooklyn Artists Association (1866-85), Philadelphia Centennial Exposition (1876), Boston Art Club (1882-1909), New York City (1886 gold medal), Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1889 Temple gold medal, 1891, 1896-97, 1905), Paris Exposition Universelle (1889 honorable mention), St Louis Exposition (1904 medal), the Art Institute of Chicago and, for more than 50 years, at the National Academy of Design (1862-1914, 1896 prize). Parton gained widespread recognition after his painting of the Shenandoah River (1872) was published in William Cullen Bryant...
Category

1880s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Postcard

On the Hudson Looking North
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated lower left: J. W. Hill / 1867; on verso: On The Hudson – Looking North
Category

19th Century Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

"Portrait of an Italian Fencer, " John Frederick Kensett, Hudson River School
Located in New York, NY
John Frederick Kensett (1816 - 1872) Portrait of an Italian Fencer, circa 1845-47 Watercolor on wove paper 13 1/8 x 8 1/8 inches Signed with initials and inscribed lower right "J.F.K. Rome" From October 1845 through the spring of 1847, Kensett lived in Rome. He attended classes where he sketched from live models, and he sketched in the countryside outside Rome and around Florence, Perugia, and Venice, places he visited with his artist friends. He fulfilled commissions for paintings from Americans in Italy, and by 1847 his career was well established. Son of an English immigrant engraver, John Kensett lacked enthusiasm for that medium and became one of the most accomplished painters of the second generation of Hudson River School painters. His reputation is for Luminism, careful depiction of light, weather, and atmosphere as they affect color and texture of natural forms. He was particularly influenced by the painting of Asher Durand in that he focused on realism and detail rather than the highly dramatic views associated with Thomas Cole. Going to the western United States in the mid 1850s and the 1860s, he was the first of the Hudson River School painters to explore and paint the West. Kensett was born and raised in Cheshire, Connecticut, and learned his engraving from his father, Thomas Kensett with whom he worked in New Haven, Connecticut until 1829. He continued working until 1840 as an engraver of labels, banknotes and maps and was employed part of that time by the American Bank Note Company in New York City. There he met Thomas Rossiter, John Casilear, and other artists who urged him to pursue painting. In 1840, he and Rossiter, Asher Durand, and Casilear went to Europe where Kensett stayed for seven years and supported himself by doing engraving but became accomplished in landscape painting. Having sent canvases of Italian landscapes back to New York, he had a reputation for skillful painting that preceded him. When he returned to New York City in 1847, he was an "instant success" and very sought after by collectors. Two of his Italian landscapes had already been purchased by the American Art Union. By 1849, he was a full member of the National Academy of Design and was generally popular among his peers. His studio was a gathering place with travelers stopping by to see his canvases and to identify "precise locations in the Catskills or Newport or New England in the oil sketches and drawings that covered his walls." (Zellman 170). For the women, he was a popular bachelor, "romantic looking with high forehead and sensitive expression." (Samuels 262) He was also sought after by many organizations. Among his activities were serving on the committee to oversee the decoration of the United States Capitol in Washington DC, and becoming one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. An inveterate traveler, Kensett spent summers on painting excursions away from New York City. One of these trips was a special painting excursion with fifteen other artists sponsored by the B & O Railroad from Baltimore, Maryland to Wheeling, West Virginia. Unlike many of the Hudson River painters...
Category

1840s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Iona Marsh (En Plein Air Landscape Pastel Drawing on Paper in a Gold Frame)
Located in Hudson, NY
Small, impressionist style en plein air landscape pastel drawing on paper in gold frame Sight dimensions: 6 x 12 inches, 11.5 x 17.5 inches in gold frame Signed, verso This small, h...
Category

2010s Hudson River School Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel

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Located in Hudson, NY
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Hudson River School drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Hudson River School drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add drawings and watercolor paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including William Trost Richards, Charles Partridge Adams, Jane Bloodgood-Abrams, and John William Hill. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, 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 drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 2 inches across are also available. Prices for drawings and watercolor 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 $400 and tops out at $27,500, while the average work sells for $3,850.

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