Dayton from Steele’s Hill

About the Art

This is one of the earliest known images of Dayton. Painted from the hill where the museum is today, it looks across the Miami River towards downtown. At the time, Dayton had a population of roughly 8,000.

A native of Springfield, Ohio, Whittredge first worked as a sign painter in Cincinnati. Initially a self-taught artist, he showed early interest in detailed landscapes. Note the reflection of the figure on the far side of the river and the attention given to structures in town. After studying in Europe through the 1850s, Whittredge became a leader among the Hudson River School of landscape painters.

FEATURED IMAGE
Thomas Worthington Whittredge (American, 1820–1910), Dayton from Steele’s Hill, 1844, oil on canvas, 21 1/8 x 30 1/8 inches (53.7 x 76.5 cm). Museum purchase with funds provided by the James F. Dicke Family, Susan Ayers and the Dayton Art Institute Associate Board, 2019.21