Thomas Hill
Thomas Hill (1829-1908)
Thomas Hill, the future “Pioneer Artist of Yosemite,” was born on September 11, 1829 in Birmingham, England. At the tender age of 12, Hill moved to Taunton, Massachusetts with his parents. As a young man Hill served an apprenticeship to a stagecoach, and became a decorator-artist for a Boston furniture manufacturer. In 1853 Hill studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Peter Frederick Rothermel. That same year a 24-year old Hill won the Maryland Institute first prize for portraiture. In the summer of 1854 Hill visited the White Mountains in New Hampshire where he met and painted with several artists associated with the Hudson River School (nineteenth century American painters known for their romantic American landscapes). Hill lived in Boston, Philadelphia and Cambridge before moving to San Francisco in 1861 where he worked till 1866, painting landscapes of the Russian River Valley, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. His first visit to Yosemite Valley did not occur until 1862. Hill spent several months from 1866 to 1867 in Paris studying still-life painting. Parisian instructors encouraged Hill to return to the USA and pursue landscape painting. So Hill returned to America, set up a small studio in Cambridge, and worked for the following four years on California landscapes based on his on-the-spot sketches. Around 1867, after Hill returned to America, he became a leading member of the Hudson River School. Hill returned to San Francisco in 1871 where he made his home for the last thirty-four years of his life. After visiting Yosemite several more times, he established a summer studio in Wawona near the Yosemite Valley and began splitting his time between his studio and his winter home in San Francisco. Thomas Hill died, an in demand successful landscape artist, in July of 1908 at the ripe old age of 79.
Thomas Hill became best known for his paintings of the Yosemite Valley. Hill was “the most ardent devotee at the shrine of Yosemite and the most faithful priest of the valley.” He emphasized the grandeur and spectacular beauty of the falls while adding figures, often Native Americans, to give the works a focal point and a scent of human interest. Hill chose to place in his works Native Americans as a symbolic element of the wilderness of the unaltered majesty of the Yosemite Valley. His early sketchy style changed in the 1870s to a heavier style with thick, impasto handling of paint. After 1890, Hill’s style loosened, became freer and less detailed.
In the course of his long career, Thomas Hill exhibited at the Art Union in San Francisco, the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He received 31 awards, and helped found the San Francisco School of Design in 1874. Hill was a member of the Boston Art Club and of the San Francisco Art Association. His paintings can be found in the Cheekwood Museum of Art, the Butler Institute of American Art, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, and in the National Portrait Gallery.
Thomas Hill, the future “Pioneer Artist of Yosemite,” was born on September 11, 1829 in Birmingham, England. At the tender age of 12, Hill moved to Taunton, Massachusetts with his parents. As a young man Hill served an apprenticeship to a stagecoach, and became a decorator-artist for a Boston furniture manufacturer. In 1853 Hill studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Peter Frederick Rothermel. That same year a 24-year old Hill won the Maryland Institute first prize for portraiture. In the summer of 1854 Hill visited the White Mountains in New Hampshire where he met and painted with several artists associated with the Hudson River School (nineteenth century American painters known for their romantic American landscapes). Hill lived in Boston, Philadelphia and Cambridge before moving to San Francisco in 1861 where he worked till 1866, painting landscapes of the Russian River Valley, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. His first visit to Yosemite Valley did not occur until 1862. Hill spent several months from 1866 to 1867 in Paris studying still-life painting. Parisian instructors encouraged Hill to return to the USA and pursue landscape painting. So Hill returned to America, set up a small studio in Cambridge, and worked for the following four years on California landscapes based on his on-the-spot sketches. Around 1867, after Hill returned to America, he became a leading member of the Hudson River School. Hill returned to San Francisco in 1871 where he made his home for the last thirty-four years of his life. After visiting Yosemite several more times, he established a summer studio in Wawona near the Yosemite Valley and began splitting his time between his studio and his winter home in San Francisco. Thomas Hill died, an in demand successful landscape artist, in July of 1908 at the ripe old age of 79.
Thomas Hill became best known for his paintings of the Yosemite Valley. Hill was “the most ardent devotee at the shrine of Yosemite and the most faithful priest of the valley.” He emphasized the grandeur and spectacular beauty of the falls while adding figures, often Native Americans, to give the works a focal point and a scent of human interest. Hill chose to place in his works Native Americans as a symbolic element of the wilderness of the unaltered majesty of the Yosemite Valley. His early sketchy style changed in the 1870s to a heavier style with thick, impasto handling of paint. After 1890, Hill’s style loosened, became freer and less detailed.
In the course of his long career, Thomas Hill exhibited at the Art Union in San Francisco, the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He received 31 awards, and helped found the San Francisco School of Design in 1874. Hill was a member of the Boston Art Club and of the San Francisco Art Association. His paintings can be found in the Cheekwood Museum of Art, the Butler Institute of American Art, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, and in the National Portrait Gallery.
(Birmingham, England, 1829 – 1908, Raymond, California)
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