Thomas Birch
Thomas Birch’s father, William Russell Birch, was a well-known painter of miniatures. Father and son left England together, arriving in Philadelphia in 1794, where they established the engraving firm William Birch & Son. Thomas Birch later established his own artistic career as a pioneer of American landscape painting, earning a reputation for his marine pictures and his sea-battle scenes of the War of 1812.
What is the impact of urbanization?
In 1836, the travel writer Nathaniel Parker Willis described the entrance to New York City’s harbor, praising “the bold shores, the bright green banks, the clustering woods, and tasteful villas, which make up the charms of this lovely strait.” In Birch’s painting of the area, close attention is paid to the natural details of the foreground and the region’s geography: in the foreground and to the left is Brooklyn, and to the right is Staten Island.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd
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