Portrait of Asher B. Durand

In about 1830, Elliott moved from upstate New York to Manhattan, where he studied briefly with John Quidor (1801-81), a specialist in literary scenes. Otherwise, he was largely self-taught, although he had thoroughly familiarized himself with the techniques employed by the portrait painter Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828). By the 1850s, Elliott had become the leading portraitist in New York.

Asher B. Durand (1796-1886) began his career as an engraver but eventually turned to landscape painting and succeeded Thomas Cole as the leader of the Hudson River school of landscape painters.