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Image Not Available for James McDougal Hart
James McDougal Hart
Image Not Available for James McDougal Hart

James McDougal Hart

American, 1828-1901
BiographyJames McDougal Hart (May 10, 1828 – October 24, 1901), was a Scottish-born American landscape and cattle painter of the Hudson River School.

Hart was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, and was taken to America with his family in early youth. In Albany, New York he trained with a sign and carriage maker. He returned to Europe for serious artistic training. He studied in Munich, and was a pupil of Friedrich Wilhelm Schirmer at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.

Hart returned to America in 1853. He exhibited his first work at the National Academy of Design in 1848, became an associate in 1857 and a full member in 1859. James Hart was particularly devoted to the National Academy, exhibiting there over a period of more than forty years, and serving as vice president late in his life from 1895 to 1899.

Hart based his operations in New York City and adopted the style of the Hudson River School. James may have been more inclined to paint exceptionally large works. Like his brother William, James excelled at painting cattle.

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