William Morris Hunt — American Artist born on March 31, 1824, died on September 08, 1879

William Morris Hunt, American painter, was born at Brattleboro, Vermont to Jane Maria Hunt and Hon. Jonathan Hunt, who raised one of the preeminent families in American art. William Morris Hunt was the leading painter of mid-19th-century Boston, Massachusetts... (wikipedia)

The mission of art is to represent nature not to imitate her.
Art teaches you the philosophy of life, and if you can't learn it from art, you can't learn it at all. It shows you that there is no perfection. There is light, and there is shadow. Everything is in half tint.
What is nobler than a man wresting and wringing his bread from the stubborn soil by the sweat of his brow and the break of his back for his wife and children!
You can't do a fine thing without having seen fine examples.
Nature is economical. She puts her lights and darks only where she needs them.