Daniel Huntington

Daniel Huntington, a native New Yorker, studied at Yale University and Hamilton College before enrolling at the National Academy school. After extensive travels in Europe, including time in Florence and Rome, he helped introduce historical and allegorical art to America. Although best known for his portraiture—his sitters included U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln and Martin Van Buren—he also painted Hudson River landscapes.

Huntington was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1840 and later served as its president for more than twenty years. At the founding of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he became its vice president, a role he held for over three decades. His paintings are now represented in major institutions, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum.