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Partial AskArt Bio: Born in Ireland, James Hamilton became a landscape painter and is credited with painting one of the first American seascapes, The Sea at Atlantic City, in 1868. Few of his seascapes have survived, but exhibition records reveal that he did numerous coastal scenes from New York to Maryland. He came to the United States, settling with his family in Philadelphia, at age fifteen. His early teachers are unknown, but he had guidance in book and magazine illustration. He enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and in addition to painting, gained skill in engraving and etching. He was a great admirer of the landscapes of English painter J.M.W. Turner, and became known as the "American Turner" because of his vivid lighting effects in coastal scenes and seascapes. His only recorded trip abroad was to England in 1854 and 1855, and he studied Turner's paintings while there. He also had a studio in Wilmington, Delaware, but mainly he lived in Philadelphia. One of Hamilton's paintings, What Are the Wild Waves Saying, was inspired by a scene from Charles Dicken's novel Dombey and Son. Hamilton gave the painting to Dickens, and Dickens, expressing much appreciation, later said it was the only gift he accepted during his American tour. Hamilton also became well known for illustrations of the book Arctic Explorations by Elisha Kent Kane. In 1878, he died in San Francisco, attempting but not completing a trip around the world. Source: James McClelland, "Ship to Shore", Art & Antiques, July 2004, p. 62. Also: Born in Etrien near Belfast, Ireland on Oct. 1, 1819. Hamilton immigrated to Philadelphia in 1834 and was exposed to some of the finest painters of that time. He received encouragement and criticism from engraver John Sartain and others, but remained self-taught. After establishing himself in Philadelphia as a marine painter, his many painting students included Peter and Thomas Moran. After his first exhibition in 1840 at the Artists Fund Society, he exhibited in Boston, Baltimore, Washington, NYC, and London. It was his painting, Capture of the Serapie, a marine of John Paul Jones' sea victory, that made him famous at an early age. He became known as "The American Turner" and was internationally famous by the time he moved to San Francisco in 1875. He joined the San Francisco Art Ass'n and established a studio at 309 California Street where he painted the maritime activities of San Francisco Bay. His romantic compositions often include ship wrecks, naval battles, fires and storms at sea. Three years after arriving in San Francisco, Hamilton died on March 10, 1878. His funeral was held in the rooms of the San Francisco Art Ass'n with prominent local artists as pallbearers. Exh: Mechanics' Inst. (SF), 1876-80; Calif. State Fair, 1881. In: Oakland Museum (Clipper Ships off Golden Gate); Brooklyn Museum; Boston Museum; MM; Philadelphia Maritime Museum; Pennsylvania Historical Society; PAFA; Atwater Kent Museum (Philadelphia). Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940. Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers (Fielding, Mantle); History & Ideals of American Art (Neuhaus); New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America (Groce, George C. and David H. Wallace); James Hamilton, American Marine Artist cat. (Brooklyn Museum, 1966). Auction Record: $54,000. Estimate: $6,000-$15,000.
