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Nelson Augustus Moore

N.A. Moore, though sharing the feeling and impetus of his contemporaries, felt no need to travel vast distances in search of evermore grandiose, spectacular vistas. He took a particular delight in the peaceful harmony of the local American countryside. Exploring the myriad seasons and moods of his native New England, he celebrated the understated, humble charm of his own back yard. A member of the Hudson River School at heart, Moore remained untouched by its more dramatic interpretations, crafting instead works that were local, personal, honest American, and humble.

He was born August 2, 1824, at Kensington (Conn.), studied under Thomas Cummings and Daniel Huntington in NYC and spent most of his life in Kensington. In his later years he specialized in landscapes.

French, Art and Artists in Conn., 122-23
Corcoran Gallery,
Catalogue Art Digest (Oct. 1, 1934), 5, repro

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton

N.A. Moore was a respected member of the Hudson River School whose work portrayed the harmony of the American countryside. Moore focused his art on nature's tranquil sentiments, creating intimate scenes of New England, the Adirondacks, and Lake George. Born in Southington, Connecticut, Moore studied under Thomas S. Cummings and Daniel Huntington in New York City before working as an art instructor and photographer in New Britain, Connecticut. Photography would play an important role in his artistic career; he opened a daguerreotype studio with his brother and incorporated the influence of the medium into his landscape paintings. As he gained fame as a painter, he took a studio in New York City alongside Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, John Bunyan Bristol, and the Hart brothers: William and James. His richly-colored, precisely-detailed paintings documented nature's quiet charm, reflecting his deep engagement with the American landscape.

Moore exhibited regularly at the National Academy of Design and the Brooklyn Art Association. His oeuvre has been sorted and catalogued by the Moore Picture Trust, which published an important study of his life and work in 1994. Macbeth Gallery and Vose Galleries have held solo shows of his work, and The New Britain Museum of American Art mounted a major retrospective, "Nelson Augustus Moore, Connecticut Landscape Painter and Early American Photographer," in 1980. His paintings are now featured in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Adirondack Museum, the Everson Museum of Art, the Mattatuck Historical Society, the Connecticut Historical Society, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

Biography courtesy of Questroyal Fine Art, LLC, www.antiquesandfineart.com/questroyal

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