Brief Biography-John Frederick Kensett was a prominent artist of the second-generation Hudson River School. He was primarily a landscape painter; however, his father and uncle trained him as an engraver, and he earned a decent living from it in New York. In 1840, he travelled to Europe with John Casilear, Thomas Rossiter, and Asher Durand, where he studied in France, England, and Italy for over seven years.
He became linked with the Hudson River School when he returned in 1847 and soon enjoyed success as a landscape artist. He was made a member of the National Academy of Design and became a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1849. Several notable European artists influenced him on his travels; however, he later painted in the style of Luminism, which became associated with the Hudson River Group; the works of Asher Durand influenced his paintings. He died after trying to rescue the wife of artist Vincent Colyer from drowning in 1872.