John William Casilear

John William Casilear painted calm American landscapes in the Hudson River School tradition: still lakes, open meadows, grazing cows and the soft blue hills of the Catskills and the Genesee Valley. His pictures are gentle and clear, with fine detail that shows his training as an engraver.

He was born in New York City in 1811 and learned engraving under Peter Maverick and then Asher Durand, working as a banknote engraver for years. From the mid-1830s he turned to landscape painting, and in 1840 he travelled to Europe with Durand, John Frederick Kensett and Thomas Rossiter. By the 1850s he had given up engraving for painting full time. He became a full member of the National Academy of Design in 1851 and exhibited there for over fifty years. The Metropolitan Museum and the National Gallery of Art hold his work. He died in Saratoga Springs in 1893.

In In the Catskills, look at the smooth, even light, a hallmark of his quiet style.