Treasured Landscapes

William Hart
ca. 1880

This painting hangs in the dining room of Thomas Edison's Victorian style home, Glenmont. Hart, who immigrated from Scotland to the United States as a child, is considered to be a second generation Hudson River School artist from the Luminist movement. In the 1870s, Hart turned to painting bucolic scenes with cattle and sheep, which were considered appropriate choices for a dining room. Art critic Henry Tuckerman wrote that landscapes such as this one, "are gems of quiet yet salient beauty."

Oil on canvas. L 61, W 50.8 cm
Thomas Edison National Historical Park, EDIS 102334