Augustus Rockwell was born in 1822. While little is known of Rockwell’s life and career, his relocation to Buffalo is documented by art historian William H. Gerdts in Art Across America. Gerdts notes that Rockwell moved to the northern New York city at the age of thirty and remained there for at least ten years. Rockwell likely relocated to Buffalo to be near his brother, Simon Dennison Rockwell, a well-known printer who lived in the area.
In addition to painting landscapes, Rockwell was an accomplished portraitist. The artist traveled throughout New York creating likenesses of figures such as Reverend Samuel Kirkland and Millard Fillmore, thirteenth president of the United States. Rockwell’s paintings currently form part of the collections at the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, the Weir Collection at Riverbrink Gallery, and Beloit College’s Wright Museum in Wisconsin.
