Sanford R. Gifford

Gifford was born in Greenfield, New York on July 10, 1823. He grew up in Hudson, New York and moved to New York City in 1845 to study art. He took classes in figure drawing and anatomy at the National Academy of Design and studied with British watercolorist John Ruben Smith. He began to concentrate on landscape painting in 1846 and exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1847. One of his works was also accepted for engraving and distribution through the American Art-Union that year. He was elected an Academician of the National Academy in 1854. Gifford also served in the American Civil War. He traveled to Europe and the Middle East several times later in his career, as well as traveling to the Rocky Mountains and the Catskill Mountains. After his death, Gifford came to be seen as a proponent of Luminism. He died of pneumonia in New York on August 24, 1880.