John William Casilear, American, 1811 to 1893, an antique oil on canvas painting depicting a view of a harbor with sailing ships and pleasure boats and mountains in the distance. Housed in an original period wooden frame with a metal name plate below. John Casilear was a leading Hudson River School painter. He began his study with master engraver Peter Maverick and then studied landscape painting with Asher Durand. He exhibited landscape paintings beginning 1833 at the National Academy of Design. From 1840 to 1843, he traveled in Europe with Durand, John Kensett and Thomas Rossiter, but for most of his life, he worked either out of his studio in New York City or in upstate New York or in Vermont, where he spent many summers. From 1854, he devoted himself to landscape painting and was a leader among the Hudson River School Luminist painters who focused on special effects of air, light, and mood. Views of Lake George were his most frequent subjects. He was elected an Academician of the National Academy in 1851, and his work is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. One of a kind artwork. Antique American Landscape Paintings, Hudson River School Art, Fine Art Collectibles.