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Robert Havell's View of West Point from Fort Putnam
Fine early view of West Point and the United States Military Academy, painted by Robert Havell and published by L.R. Menger of New York City.
The view provides an exceptional look at the Hudson River Valley,with the US Military Academy in the foreground and the towns of Newburgh and New Windsor in the distance.
Robert Havell is an American Artist of great importance, who is perhaps best known as the principal engraver of Audubon's Birds of America, perhaps the most significant natural history publication of all time. His aquatint engraving of all but the first ten plates of John James Audubon's Birds of America is now recognized as a significant artistic achievement in its own right and an essential component of the success of Birds of America.
Havell and Audubon became close friends and associates during their lengthy collaboration. In 1839 Havell went to America at the invitation of Audubon, first residing in Brooklyn. He settled in Ossining on the Hudson River and later moved to Tarrytown, New York, living there from 1857 through his remaining years.
Although Havell continued to work in aquatint and engraving (primarily city panoramas), he devoted most of his attention to painting the countryside of the Hudson River valley. He traveled frequently in a homemade horse-drawn trailer, sketching and taking notes and translating his sketches into larger oils. Robert Havell, Jr., is considered a member of the Hudson River School of American painters.