1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Kensett, John Frederick

KENSETT, JOHN FREDERICK (1818–1872), American artist, was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, on the 22nd of March 1818. After studying engraving he went abroad, took up painting, and exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, in 1845. In 1849 he was elected to the National Academy of Design, New York, and in 1859 he was appointed a member of the committee to superintend the decoration of the United States Capitol at Washington, D.C. After his death the contents of his studio realized at public auction over $150,000. He painted landscapes more or less in the manner of the Hudson River School.