Edward Hill (December 9, 1843 – August 27, 1923) was a prolific artist as well as a published poet, songwriter, and newspaper correspondent. His paintings include
White Mountain landscapes, southern genre scenes,
still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
s,
portrait
A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...
s,
American Indians, European attractions, and the scenery of the
American West
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
.
Early life
Hill was born in the Union Poor House,
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
,
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
on December 9, 1843. His family moved to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1844, settling in
Taunton, Massachusetts
Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount ...
. Moving frequently, the family finally settled in
Gardner, Massachusetts
Gardner, officially the City of Gardner, is a city in Worcester County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,287 in the 2020 census. Gardner is home of such sites as the Blue Moon Diner, Dunn State Park, Ga ...
in 1860. Edward and his brother,
Thomas Hill, worked for
Heywood Brothers & Company decorating furniture. Edward moved to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
in 1862 where he shared a studio with Thomas who had settled there the previous year. By 1864, Edward returned to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and began painting in earnest.
Artistic career
Hill married Sarah Lorla Brown in 1869 and moved to
Littleton, New Hampshire
Littleton is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,005 at the 2020 census. Situated at the northern edge of the White Mountains, Littleton is bounded on the northwest by the Connecticut River.
The main vill ...
the following year. In 1874, the family moved to
Lancaster, New Hampshire
Lancaster is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Coös County, New Hampshire, Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The town is named after the city of Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster in England. As of the 2020 ce ...
. In 1875, while living in Lancaster, Hill painted ''The Presidential Range'' from Legro's Hill, Lancaster, one of his earliest known White Mountain pictures. From 1877 to 1892, Hill was artist-in-residence at the Profile House in
Franconia Notch
Franconia Notch (elev. ) is a major mountain pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Dominated by Cannon Mountain to the west and Mount Lafayette to the east, it lies principally within Franconia Notch State Park and is traversed by ...
. The surrounding area provided subjects for his paintings that proved popular with the hotel guests -
Profile Lake
Profile Lake is a water body located in Franconia Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, at the foot of Cannon Mountain.Old Man of the Mountain
The Old Man of the Mountain, also called the Great Stone Face and the Profile, was a series of five granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire, United States, that appeared to be the jagged profile of a human face when v ...
,
Echo Lake, Eagle Cliff,
The Flume, and
Mount Lafayette
Mount Lafayette is a mountain at the northern end of the Franconia Range in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, United States. It lies in the town of Franconia in Grafton County, and appears on the New England Fifty Finest list of the most ...
.
Hill exhibited regularly at the
Boston Art Club
The Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, serves to help its members, as well as non-members, to access the world of fine art. It currently has more than 250 members.
History
The Boston Art Club was first conceived in Boston in 1854 with the co ...
throughout the 1880s, where he was an artist member from 1881 to 1887. By this time, Hill's financial success and artistic acceptance were firmly established.
Later years
Hill spent the last years of his life in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
. At 67 years of age, Hill moved to
Hood River, Oregon
The city of Hood River is the seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in Oregon whe ...
and opened a studio. His time had passed, however, and he could not find clients for his works. He died quietly on August 27, 1923 at the Cottage Hospital in Hood River. He was buried by the Hood River Masonic Lodge who were given Hill's paintings and studio effects towards payment of his hospital bills and burial expenses. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Idlewilde Cemetery in Hood River. Sixty years after his death, a marker was placed on his gravesite through the generosity of Robert A. Goldberg, a well-known collector of White Mountain paintings. The marker reads, "EDWARD HILL, 1843 1923, ARTIST."
External links
Artwork by Edward Hill
References
*''Nature's Nobleman, Edward Hill and His Art'', Historical New Hampshire, Vol. 44, Nos. 1 & 2, Spring/Summer, 1989.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Edward
People from Wolverhampton
Burials in Oregon
People from Hood River, Oregon
People from Littleton, New Hampshire
People from Taunton, Massachusetts
People from Lancaster, New Hampshire
People from Gardner, Massachusetts
1843 births
1923 deaths
Painters from Massachusetts
Painters from New Hampshire
Painters from Oregon
19th-century American painters
American male painters
20th-century American painters
19th-century American male artists
20th-century American male artists
Hudson River School painters