Edward Hill (December 9, 1843 – August 27, 1923) was a prolific artist as well as a published poet, songwriter, and newspaper correspondent. His paintings include White Mountain landscapes

White Mountain art

White Mountain art is the body of work created during the 19th century by over four hundred artists who painted landscape scenes of the White Mountains of New Hampshire in order to promote the region and, consequently, sell their works of art....

, southern genre scenes, still life

Still life

A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...

s, portrait

Portrait

thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...

s, American Indians

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

, European attractions, and the scenery of the American West.

Early life

Hill was born in the Union Poor House, Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 on December 9, 1843. His family moved to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1844, settling in Taunton, Massachusetts

Taunton, Massachusetts

Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County and the hub of the Greater Taunton Area. The city is located south of Boston, east of Providence, north of Fall River and west of Plymouth. The City of Taunton is situated on the Taunton River...

. Moving frequently, the family finally settled in Gardner, Massachusetts

Gardner, Massachusetts

Gardner, Massachusetts is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,228 as of the 2010 census. Gardner is home to Dunn State Park, Gardner Heritage State Park, Lake Wampanoag Wildlife Sanctuary, and Mount Wachusett Community College.-History:Named in honor of...

 in 1860. Edward and his brother, Thomas Hill

Thomas Hill (painter)

Thomas Hill was an American artist of the 19th century. He produced many fine paintings of the California landscape, in particular of the Yosemite Valley, as well as the White Mountains of New Hampshire.-Biography:...

, worked for Heywood Brothers & Company decorating furniture. Edward moved to San Francisco in 1862 where he shared a studio with Thomas who had settled there the previous year. By 1864, Edward returned to Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 and began painting in earnest.

Artistic career

Hill married Sarah Lorla Brown in 1869 and moved to Littleton, New Hampshire

Littleton, New Hampshire

Littleton is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,928 at the 2010 census. Situated at the edge of the White Mountains, Littleton is bounded on the northwest by the Connecticut River....

 the following year. In 1874, the family moved to Lancaster, New Hampshire

Lancaster, New Hampshire

Lancaster is a town in Coos County, New Hampshire, USA, on the Connecticut River named after Lancaster, England. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 3,507, the second largest in the county after Berlin. It is the county seat of Coos County and gateway to the Great North Woods Region...

. In 1875, while living in Lancaster, Hill painted The Presidential Range from Legro's Hill, Lancaster, one of his earliest known White Mountain pictures. From 1877 to 1892, Hill was artist-in-residence at the Profile House in Franconia Notch

Franconia Notch

Franconia Notch is a major mountain pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Dominated by Cannon Mountain, it lies principally within Franconia Notch State Park and is traversed by the Franconia Notch Parkway Franconia Notch (el. 1950 ft. / 590 m.) is a major mountain pass through...

. The surrounding area provided subjects for his paintings that proved popular with the hotel guests - Profile Lake

Profile Lake

Profile Lake is a water body located in Franconia Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, at the foot of Cannon Mountain. The lake was given its name due to its location directly beneath the Old Man of the Mountain, a famous rock formation which collapsed in 2003...

, the Old Man of the Mountain

Old Man of the Mountain

The Old Man of the Mountain, also known as the Great Stone Face or the Profile, was a series of five granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA that, when viewed from the north, appeared to be the jagged profile of a face. The rock formation was above...

, Echo Lake

Echo Lake (Franconia Notch)

Echo Lake is a water body located in Franconia Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, at the foot of Cannon Mountain. The lake is in the Connecticut River watershed, near the height of land in Franconia Notch; water from the lake's outlet flows north via Lafayette Brook to the Gale River,...

, Eagle Cliff, The Flume, and Mount Lafayette.

Hill exhibited regularly at the Boston Art Club

Boston Art Club

The Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, for nearly 157 years, serves as a nexus for Members and non Members to access the world of Fine Art. Currently more than 250 members maintain an active environment for the support and promotion of these works....

 throughout the 1880s, where he was an artist member from 1881 to 1887. By this time, Hill's financial success and artistic acceptance were firmly established.

Later years

Hill spent the last years of his life in the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

. At 67 years of age, Hill moved to Hood River, Oregon

Hood River, Oregon

The city of Hood River is the seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 5,831...

and opened a studio. His time had passed, however, and he could not find clients for his works. He died quietly on August 27, 1923 at the Cottage Hospital in Hood River. He was buried by the Hood River Masonic Lodge who were given Hill's paintings and studio effects towards payment of his hospital bills and burial expenses. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Idlewilde Cemetery in Hood River. Sixty years after his death, a marker was placed on his gravesite through the generosity of Robert A. Goldberg, a well-known collector of White Mountain paintings. The marker reads, "EDWARD HILL, 1843 1923, ARTIST."