Willaim Morris Hunt (1824-1879)

William Morris Hunt was born in Brattleboro, VT on March 31, 1824 and died off Appledore Island in the Isle of Shoals, NH on September 8, 1879 by drowning. Apparently unhappy in his later years, it is speculated that his death was actually a suicide. At the time, he was visiting the poet Celia Thaxter.

Hunt traveled to Europe before finishing his education at Harvard. He studied painting in Dusseldorf, Germany and with Thomas Couture in Paris. He was influenced in Paris by the work of Jean Francois Millet whom he met and befriended. He returned to the United States in 1856, settling in Boston in 1862. He stayed at the Conway House in Conway, NH before September 1862. Although no known New Hampshire views are known, it is likely that he painted some.

Photo Credit
Charles O. Vogel

References
New Hampshire Scenery
Who Was Who in American Art