23 Facts About William Ranney

William Tylee Ranney was an American painter, known for his depictions of Western life, sporting scenery, historical subjects and portraiture.

William Ranney's work is on display in several museums across the United States.

One of his contemporaries opined, "A specimen of Ranney is indispensable wherever a collection of American art exists".

At the age of 20 William Ranney moved to Brooklyn in 1833 to study painting.

William Ranney was reportedly in the guard placed over Mexican President Santa Anna following his capture at the Battle of San Jacinto.

William Ranney remained in West Columbia, Texas until returning to Brooklyn in 1837.

William Ranney resumed his artistic endeavors in Brooklyn, becoming a self-taught oil painter, having never received formal training.

William Ranney received an award for his first genre painting A Courting Scene, which was exhibited at the New York Mechanics' Institute Fair.

William Ranney traveled back and forth between North Carolina and New York from 1839 and 1842.

William Ranney was a regular contributor and an associate member of the National Academy of Design and the American Art Union, both based in New York.

William Ranney painted historical scenes, such as those of the American Revolution.

William Ranney mostly depicted the everyday lives of the affected populace rather than heroic battle scenes.

William Ranney featured pioneers, hunters, trappers, and explorers before the West was more widely settled by European Americans.

William Ranney enjoyed duck hunting, which is reflected in some of his paintings noted for their solidly constructed, almost sculpture-like figures.

William Ranney produced at least four different versions of this print, the most recognized of which was reserved for the Butler Institute of American Art.

The appeal of William Ranney's painting lies in its convincing portrayal of the alert, poised hunter and the tense, crouching boy and dog, all motionless, yet charged with potential energy.

William Ranney, who adored the rural, marshy lands that typified the area in the 19th century, enjoyed fishing.

William Ranney played Hoboken's Fox Hill, which today is Columbus Park, and the high school field between 9th and 11th streets on Grand Street.

William Ranney converted to Catholicism during the last days of his life.

William Ranney died of tuberculosis at his West Hoboken home on November 18,1857, aged 44.

William Ranney's funeral took place at Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Hoboken, and was attended by fellow painter Charles Loring Elliott.

Some of William Ranney's works were exhibited at the National Academy of Design, and many of William Ranney's fellow artists, including George Inness, Jasper Francis Cropsey and Asher Brown Durand, donated paintings for this effort, helping to raise over $7000.

William Ranney is regarded as one of the most important pre-Civil War American painters, and his paintings are highly prized by Western and early American art collectors.