Thomas Hill (painter)
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Thomas Hill (September 11, 1829 - June 30, 1908) was an important American artist of the 19th century. He produced some of the finest paintings of the California and Yosemite Valley landscape.
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[edit] Biography
Thomas Hill was born in England on September 11, 1829. At the age of 15, he emigrated to the U.S. with his family. They settled in Taunton, Massachusetts. In 1851, he had married Charlotte Elizabeth Hawkins. They would have nine children.
At the age of 24, Hill attended evening classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Design (PAFA) and studied under American painter Peter Frederick Rothermel (1812-1895). During his years as a student, Hill traveled to the White Mountains in New Hampshire as early as 1854 and sketched alongside members of the Hudson River School, such as Benjamin Champney. In 1856, Hill and his family moved to San Francisco.
With painter Virgil Williams and photographer Carleton Watkins, Hill made his first trip to the Yosemite Valley in 1865. The next year, Hill traveled to the East Coast and Europe. He now established his faimly on the East Coast but continued to take sketching trips to the West Coast and to attend meetings of the San Francisco Art Association. He moved his family back to San Francisco in 1873.
Hill made yearly sketching trips to Yosemite, Mount Shasta, and, back east, to the White Mountains. Hill ran an art gallery and art supply store. He briefly acted as the interim director for the SFAA School of Design and went to Alaska on a commission for environmentalist John Muir. He lived on his stock market investments as well as his art proceeds. His marriage collapsed in the 1880s.
Toward the end of his life, he maintained a studio at Yosemite’s Wawona Hotel. After suffering from a stroke, Hill left Yosemite and traveled up and down the California coast, including stops in Coronado, San Diego and Santa Barbara. He died in Raymond, California on June 30, 1908.
[edit] Work
Almost no early paintings by Hill exist today. He was associated with the Hudson River School because of his trips to the White Mountains with friend Benjamin Champney. Hill acquired the technique of painting en plein air. These paintings in the field later served as the basis for larger finished works.
Hill’s move to California in 1861 brought him new material for his paintings. He chose monumental vistas, like Yosemite. During his lifetime, Hill’s paintings were popular in California, costing as much as $10,000. Hill's best works are considered to be these monumental subjects, including Great Canon of the Sierra, Yosemite and Yosemite Valley.
