Very little is known about this English-born, naturalized-American landscape and marine painter. It is presumed he had no
formal art training, and so was labeled an American primitive painter. Facts about his life and art remain scant. He lived in New York City, Boston,
and Albany during the years 1834-1866. Many of the paintings from these years went unsigned and undated. He is noted for his lavish use of paint, the use of light and dark contrasts, and for his curiously rounded (for a primitive artist) shapes that posit themselves against the sky or the water.