Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/498

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484 HART by a natural taste for art to adopt the profession of a landscape painter. He went in 1851 to Dusseldorf, where he spent nearly a year under the instruction of Schirmer. He returned to Albany in 1852, and in 1856 removed to New York/ In 1857 he was elected an associate of the academy of design, and in 1859 an acade- mician. He is particularly noted as a painter of cattle and sheep. Some of his principal paintings are, "Woods in Autumn," "Moon- rise in the Adirondacks," " Coming out of the Shade," and " On the March," apiece contain- ing cattle and sheep. HART, Joel T., an American sculptor, born in Clark co., Ky., about 1810. His education was restricted to a quarter's schooling, but he read diligently all the books that he could obtain. In 1830 he entered a stone cutter's shop in Lexington, and soon began to model busts in clay, making good likenesses of many influential persons, among whom were Gen. Jackson and Cassius M. Clay. The latter gave him his first commission for a bust in marble. The work was so satisfactory that the artist was commissioned by the " Ladies' Clay Asso- ciation " of Virginia to execute a marble statue of Henry Clay, which now stands in the capi- tol square at Richmond. He went to Florence in 1849 to execute this order, but the work was delayed in consequence of the loss of his model by shipwreck and by other circum- stances, and it was not till 1859 that the statue was shipped to the United States. Mr. Hart afterward made the colossal bronze statue of Henry Clay which now stands at the intersec- tion of St. Charles and Canal streets in New Orleans. He still resides in Florence (1874), where he has executed many busts of eminent men and a number of ideal works. Among the latter are "Angelina," "II Penseroso," and " Woman Triumphant." HART, John, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, born in Hopewell township, N. J., in 1708, died there in 1780. He was the son of a farmer, and spent the greater part of his life on his own farm near Trenton. He was several times a member of the provincial con- gress of New Jersey, and was prominent espe- cially in legislation for local improvements. On June 21, 1776, he was elected, with four others, to the continental congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of the New Jersey delegation, who, elected the previous February, were unwilling to assume the re- sponsibility imposed by Lee's resolution. Of the number who resigned was John De Hart, who has frequently been confounded with the signer of the Declaration. In 1777 and 1778 John Hart was a prominent member of the New Jersey council of safety. When the state was invaded by the British, his farm was laid waste and every effort made to capture him. He left his family and wandered through the woods, constantly hunted, and never ventur- ing to sleep twice in the same house. The cap- ture of the Hessians at Trenton made it safe for him to return to his farm, where he passed the remainder of his life. HART, John Seely, an American author, born at Stockbridge, Mass., Jan. 28, 1810. His fam- ily removed to Pennsylvania, finally settling near Wilkesbarre. He graduated at Prince- ton, N. J., in 1830, and after teaching for a year at Natchez, Miss., he became in 1832 tu- tor and in 1834 adjunct professor of ancient languages at Princeton, where from 1836 to 1841 he had charge of the Edgehill school. From 1842 to 1859 he was principal of the Philadelphia high school, and from 1863 to 1871 of the New Jersey state normal school at Trenton. In 1872 he became professor of rhetoric and of the English language at Prince- ton. He has contributed largely to periodicals, and edited several journals and illustrated an- nuals. Besides some text books and religious works, he has published " Class Book of Poe- try" and "Class Book of Prose" (1844), " Spenser and the Fairy Queen " (1847), " Fe- male Prose Writers of America" (1851), "In the School Room " (1868), " Manual of Com- position and Rhetoric" (1870), "Manual of English Literature " (1872), " Manual of Amer- ican Literature" (1873), and " Short Course in Literature, English and American " (1874). HART, Solomon Alexander, an English painter of Jewish descent, born in Plymouth in April, 1806. He commenced his career by painting miniatures, but in 1828 turned his attention to historical subjects, and at once achieved a reputation by some scenes from the Jewish ceremonial. He next painted scenes from Scott and Shakespeare, and again, between 1845 and 1850, recurred to Jewish subjects. He has also shown a strong partiality for subjects il- lustrating the ceremonials of the Roman Cath- olic church. In 1840 he became an academi- cian, and in 1854 succeeded Leslie as professor of painting in the royal academy, to which in 1865 he was appointed librarian. HART, William, an American landscape paint- er, born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1823. He came with his parents to America in 1831, and settled in Albany, N. Y. In his youth he was employed in coach painting in Troy, and soon gave evidence of great ability in landscape and portrait painting. In 1848 he exhibited some of his works at the national academy of design, and they were favorably received. In 1850 he revisited Scotland, and spent three years there in study, settling in New York city on his return. In 1856 he was made an associate of the national academy, and two years later an academician. Mr. Hart is a successful teacher of his art as well as a pop- ular painter. He was for some time presi- dent of the Brooklyn academy of design. Among his principal pictures are "The last Gleam," " The Golden Hour," " Sunset from Dark Harbor, N. B.," " Opening in the Elands " i (a coast scene), and "Up in the Glen, White I Mountains." He is especially distinguished for i his numerous representations of American au-