Friday
| August 12, 2022
Skip navigation
Hours
Directions
Press
Skip navigation
About
Visit
Calendar
Exhibitions
Education
Collections
Library
Shop
Join/Donate
Contact
Skip navigation
Collections
A Brief History
Recent Acquisitions
Collections Highlights
Collections Database
Paintings
Drawings and Watercolors
Prints
Sculptures
Furniture and Household Furnishings
Silver
Metals
Ceramics
Glass
Textiles, Costume, Accessories
Historical Objects
Posters and Broadsides
Photographs
Maps
Manuscripts
Ephemera
Architectural Drawings
Rare Books and Pamphlets
Antiquities
My Collection
Rights & Reproductions
Artists' Voices
Albany African American History Project
Back
|
Home
::
Collections
::
Collections Database
::
Collection Details
Albany from the East Side of the River
William Hart (1823-1894)
Artist
1846
Date:
Request Item in Shop
Oil on canvas
Medium
35 1/4 H x 48 1/4 W
Dimensions
Signed, lower right: W. Hart / 1846
Inscription
Albany Institute of History & Art Purchase
Credit
x1940.636.2
Accession number
William Hart's view of Albany in 1846 shows a growing, vital commercial center. About 50,000 people lived in Albany at the time and a large percentage of its citizens were Irish, along with a sizable number of Germans, Jews, Dutch, and New England Yankees. Lumber, stove manufacturing, and brewing were Albany's major industries during the 1840s, the successes of which were tied to the city's location on the Hudson River and the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal.
In the early 1840s, the Albany Hospital and the New York State Normal School (the forerunner of the State University) opened. They joined the Albany Female Academy, the Albany Medical College, and the Albany Academy (for Boys), partially visible in this painting. The old Capitol, designed by architect Philip Hooker, can be seen on the hill along with the Court House, St. Peter's and St. Mary's churches, and the Reformed Dutch Church, in front of the Sheridan Hollow. A still-wooded Arbor Hill is in the center of Hart's painting.
William Hart pursued a career in landscape painting following his apprenticeship with a coach maker. He also worked as a window shade decorator and a portrait artist.
Additional comments
Go back