Baker's Falls from the Hudson River Portfolio

The 20 engravings from The Hudson River Portfolio are touchstones for depictions of the river just before the emergence of the Hudson River School. The scenes reflect English concepts of the picturesque, but many also have horizontal compositions comparable to panoramas. Megary published the views in sets of four, engraved and hand-painted by John Hill and with text by John Agg, a journalist and poet. Agg's descriptions are as much about the places, their history and current development, as about the illustrations. Less known and rarely found today, the texts describe the approximate viewpoint of Wall's image, advising that "the best view...is obtained from the foot of the rocks, the descent to which is, in many respects, calculated to deter the traveller [sic], except him who, disdaining superficial views of the wonders of nature, pursues them through all varieties of toil and difficulty, and experiences an accession of enjoyment in proportion to the labour [sic] and fatigue he may have surmounted in obtaining it."

Wall may have come to America in search of Hudson views or, upon arrival, been intrigued by the Hudson tours of earlier European artist-travelers to the area.