WILLIAM STANLEY HASELTINE

William Stanley Haseltine graduated from Harvard in 1854, and left for Europe the next year, where he would spend the majority of his life. An exact contemporary of William Trost Richards, Haseltine’s style was shaped by similar forces. Both studied in Dusseldorf where the precision of German draftsmanship was impressed upon them. Both were also influenced by the writings of John Ruskin and Charles Darwin, particularly in reference to the representation of scientific truth in nature. Haseltine traveled extensively. On his first trip abroad, he spent several years touring with American artists Albert Bierstadt, Worthington Whittredge, and others. Upon his return to New York in 1859, he established a studio in the Studio Building on Tenth Street, where many landscape painters worked, including Church, Gifford, Bierstadt, Suydam, and Whittredge. With New York as his base, Haseltine made excursions throughout New England, where the Narragansett Bay was one of his favorite sites.

Six years later, Haseltine and his family moved to Europe, traveling through France and Italy before settling in Rome. Haseltine’s painting, often noted for its “internationalism” captures the spirit of an artistic career largely spent abroad. Throughout his career, Capri’s enchanting scenery occupied a central position in Haseltine’s artistic output. Haseltine sent paintings of Capri to virtually all the international exhibitions in which he participated. His works were exhibited at the 1867 and 1868 Paris Salon exhibitions; the 1871 benefit exhibition for the American Church in Rome; the 1874 Century and Lotus Club Exhibitions; the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia; the 1879 Munich International Exposition; and the 1883 Roman Internationale Exposition. Artwork by Haseltine can be found in numerous private and public collections including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.