Esteemed by his peers as "our ablest marine painter," James Hamilton won fame as an artist who, "in his best works, exhibited the higher mental powers of the poet, as well as rare technical skill." Born in Entrien, near Belfast, Ireland, Hamilton emigrated with his family to the United States in 1834, settling in Philadelphia. He exhibited his...

John Henry Brown (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1818-1891, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Brown's prolific career illuminates the fate of antebellum miniaturists. He began an apprenticeship in 1836 to the painter Arthur Armstrong (1798-1851) while working as a clerk in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Recorder's Office. In 1839 Brown established himself as a...

Joseph Henry Hidley was born 23 March 1830 in Greenbush, the part that later became North Greenbush, Rensselaer County, NY. He was baptised 11 July 1830 at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in the village of West Sand Lake, in the town of Sand Lake, Rensselaer County. Joseph's family had close ties to this church through several generations. His...

John Hill was born in London in 1770, and was apprenticed as a youth to an engraver in that city. He became interested in the process of aquatinting, a technique wherein a metal plate is etched several times in order to create tonal gradations, resulting in a print that is easier to hand-color due to the variety of subtle tones produced. Hill began...