Although he was one of the most popular painters of his day, Daniel Huntington's prestige collapsed after his death. His pious, sentimental paintings and idealized portraits failed to capture the attention of twentieth-century audiences. During his lifetime, however, Huntington was one of the leading portraitists of New York City. Many of the public buildings there have one or more Huntington portraits, recognized today for their intricate costumes rather than for the character of the sitters.

Born in 1816 in New York City, Huntington studied at Hamilton College with portraitist Charles Loring Elliott, and later in New York with Samuel F.B. Morse and Henry Inman. He went abroad for three years in 1839 to study in Rome, where he was influenced by Titian.

Huntington's early ambition-to bring historical and allegorical art to America-resulted in one of the most popular paintings of the 1840s: Mercy's Dream (1842, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), a quasi-religious figure painting taken from Pilgrim 's Progress.

In 1850, Huntington began a highly productive career in portraiture, turning out more than 1,000 canvases in his lifetime. The paintings tend to be stiffly posed and marked by romanticism.

Huntington served twice as president of the National Academy of Design, from 1862 to 1870 and from 1877 to 1890. He died in 1906.

Memberships:
American Academy and American Art-Union
National Academy of Design

Public Collections:
Brooklyn Museum
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
New York Historical Society, New York City
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia

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