William Trost Richards

William Trost Richards was an American painter known for his highly detailed landscapes and marine scenes. Born in Philadelphia in 1833, he was influenced early on by the British critic John Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelite call for close, honest study of nature. He painted rocks, foliage, and especially the sea with painstaking accuracy.

He became one of the finest American painters of the coast, capturing waves breaking on shore and the wide light over the Atlantic in both oil and watercolor. His patient, faithful approach set him a little apart from the grander, more dramatic landscape painters of his day. Richards is admired today for the quiet precision and truthfulness of his views of the American shoreline.