JAMES MCDOUGAL HART (1828-1901)

James McDougal Hart was an American landscape painter associated with the Hudson River School. Born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, he emigrated with his family to Albany, New York, as a child. He apprenticed as a sign and carriage painter before studying art in Düsseldorf, Germany, where he absorbed the precise draftsmanship and compositional style of the Düsseldorf school. Upon returning to the United States, Hart established a studio in New York City and became known for his detailed pastoral and forest landscapes, often featuring cattle and rural scenes. He was an active exhibitor at the National Academy of Design, where he was elected a full Academician in 1859, and he continued to paint until his death in Mount Vernon, New York.