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 ...

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