William Guy Wall, Original Watercolor Hudson River circa 1820's

Lot description

William Guy Wall, Hudson River "View Near Fort Miller #10". Original Watercolor on Paper William Guy Wall (Irish/American, 1792 -1864). Hudson River 'View near Fort Miller, #10'. Original watercolor on paper by Irish-born artist W.G. Hall, for the Hudson River Portfolio, published between 1821 - 1825 by Henry J. Megarey, publisher, new york city. Unsigned. To create this project, Wall spent the summer of 1820 traversing 212 miles of the hudson rivers 315- mile course, painting various views in watercolor. From this expedition twenty plates were engraved as aquatints by master engraver John Hill (British/American, 1770-1850). This particular watercolor was to be assigned as plate #10, but was revised to #9 upon publication. Prints of equal scale were proposed, to be issued to subscribers in sets of four, with John Rubens Smith hired to work the plates originally. Almost immediately, Smith was replaced by the skilled London-trained aquatint engraver John Hill, who finished the first four plates, and produced sixteen more by 1825. Over the next decade, the popularity of the portfolio stimulated new appreciation for american landscape, and prepared the way for the hudson river school of artists . Fort Miller was a famous revolutionary war site in New York. The hamlet of Fort Miller is named for the fort built on the west side of the Hudson River by the British during the French and Indian War. Known as the 'Little Carrying Place,' Fort Miller was not much more than a protected storehouse strategically located between Saratoga and Fort Edward. Here a waterfall impeded river traffic, forcing travelers to carry their boat and supplies around the falls by land. The fort was in ruins by the summer of 1777, but a settlement had taken its name on the opposite side of the river. This watercolor depicts the area in 1820.