American painter and an important member of the Hudson River School, Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900) was often sick in his youth. He spent his school years at home, where he amused himself by painting. Already at a young age, he drew architectural sketches or landscapes on his textbook. After returning home, he opened a studio in New York, where he and his colleagues painted landscapes: in his opinion, the highest form of art. His breath-taking, gigantic Classicist views of the countryside - Starrucca Viaduct, Pennsylvania, or Summer, Lake Ontario, awakened a patriotic relationship with America.