(1836-1892) Alexander H. Wyant was a member of the second generation of Hudson River School painters, but his transition to a moody, atmospheric style aligned him with the Tonalist movement, of whom George Inness was the leading exponent. Wyant was born in Ohio to a family of itinerant farmers. As a young man, he was apprenticed to a harness maker and sign painter. However, after seeing landscape paintings by Inness in a Cincinnati exhibition in 1857, Wyant was determined to become a painter. He traveled to New York to meet Inness, who was impressed by the young man's talent and helped him to secure the support of Nicholas Longworth, a wealthy Cincinnati patron of the arts. Wyant studied at the National Academy for a year, and in 1865 traveled to Germany where he studied with Hans Fredrik Gude of the Dusseldorf School. Subsequently Wyant lived in England where he was exposed to the work of Turner and Constable. In Wyant's work, the influences of these two European traditions - the dark Romanticism of the Dusseldorf tradition, and the use of expansive colors and atmospheric effects employed by Constable and Turner - merged with the detailed naturalism of the Hudson River tradition. His post-European paintings, informed also by the influence of the Barbizon School, embody a loose, freer style approaching impressionism. After his return to New York in 1867 Wyant painted in the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains. During a painting expedition to New Mexico and Arizona in 1873, he suffered a stroke that paralyzed his right hand, forcing him to paint with his left. This enforced transition accelerated his already freer style, and fortuitously coincided with the changing American taste for looser, lighter-toned paintings. After his stroke, Wyant spent more time at his Adirondack summer home in Keene Valley and in 1889 he purchased a home at Arkville, New York, in the Catskills, a center for American Barbizon painters. Wyant's work was enduringly popular, and he had no shortage of commissions throughout his career.

Biography courtesy of Roger King Gallery of Fine Art, www.antiquesandfineart.com/rking

Alexander Helwig Wyant was born in Evans Creek, Ohio in 1836 and died in Arkville, New York in the Catskills in 1892. He was raised in a family of itinerant farmers and early apprenticed to a harness maker and sign painter. His commitment to becoming an artist resulted from his seeing landscapes by George Inness Sr. in an exhibition in Cincinnati in 1857. He made a trip to New York to meet Inness, who recognizing the young man's talent, helped him secure to the patronage of Nicholas Longworth of Cincinnati. This financial help enabled Wyant to study for a year at the National Academy in New York and in 1865 in Karlsruhe, Germany with Hans Fredrik Gude, a Norwegian artist of the Dusseldorf School. . Before returning to the States, he visited England where he was influenced by the landscapes of Constable and Turner.

In 1867, Wyant returned to New York City where he established a studio and from where he traveled frequently into the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains. In 1873, at the age of 37, he was part of an expedition into New Mexico and Arizona where he painted many sites including Canyon de Chelly in Navajo country. On this trip, he suffered a stroke, which paralyzed his right hand and forced him to paint with his left.

Wyant would spend his winters in New York City and summers in the Adirondacks at Keene Valley. By 1880, he was spending more time at Keene Valley and in 1889, with his condition worsening; he bought a home in the Catskills at Arkville, NY, an important center for American Barbizon painters. As a tonalist landscape and genre painter, Wyant is credited with making the transition from a tight, restrictive style of the Hudson River School style to the freer methods of Impressionism. He was much influenced by the French Barbizon impressionists, and his grandiose eastern mountain landscapes were much sought after during his lifetime.

Alexander Wyant was a member of the Century Association and the National Academy. He exhibited at the National Academy of Design from 1865 to 1892, at the Brooklyn Art Association from 1867 to 1892 the Boston Arts Club, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Museums:
National Museum of American Art
Brooklyn Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Toledo Museum of Art
Tennessee State Museum
Kentucky Art Museum.

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

Alexander Wyant was one of the nineteenth century's most significant landscape painters, who helped to initiate the Tonalist movement of painting. Wyant's sensitive tonalist style was inspired by the work of George Inness, who helped to establish Wyant as an artist. Wyant set up a studio in New York City in 1867 and began exhibiting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Academy of Design, the Boston Arts Club, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His loosely-painted, highly atmospheric works served as an important transition from the precision of the Hudson River School to the freedoms of Impressionism. Wyant's paintings can be found in over seventy-five major collections, including The White House, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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