Who painted View of Hoboken Taken from the Ferry?

View of Hoboken Taken from the Ferry was painted by Nicolino Calyo in 1838.

Where can I see View of Hoboken Taken from the Ferry?

View of Hoboken Taken from the Ferry is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is View of Hoboken Taken from the Ferry?

View of Hoboken Taken from the Ferry is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

View of Hoboken Taken from the Ferry

Nicolino Calyo , 1838

View of Hoboken Taken from the Ferry is a gouache drawing by the Romanticist artist Nicolino Calyo. It dates from 1838 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

Nicolino Calyo, an Italian-born artist who settled in the United States in the early nineteenth century, produced this gouache landscape around 1838. The picture captures a modest waterfront settlement viewed from a ferry, with modest dwellings lining the riverbank and a few small vessels navigating the water beneath a muted sky.

Subject & Meaning

The composition presents a tranquil river scene dominated by the built environment of a small town, its houses clustered along the shore and a solitary boat drifting nearby. By focusing on everyday urban and maritime activity, Calyo highlights the modest scale of early nineteenth‑century Hoboken before industrial expansion transformed the area.

Technique & Style

Executed in gouache on off‑white wove paper, the work employs a limited palette of soft blues, browns, and grays. Gouache’s opaque, fast‑drying qualities allowed Calyo to work quickly, likely en plein air, capturing fleeting light and atmospheric effects with broad washes and modest detail.

History & Provenance

Calyo, born in Naples in 1799, emigrated to America after political turmoil in Europe, including the First Carlist War in Spain. He became known for rendering New York City and its environs, and this piece entered the museum’s American Wing collection as a representative example of his early American urban scenes.

Artist & collection

Artist

Nicolino Calyo

Nicolino Calyo (1799 – 9 December 1884) was an Italian-American painter best known for his paintings of the Great Fire of New York and other scenes in New York City.