Eric Sloane was an American painter best known for his airy, idyllic landscapes inspired by the work of Hudson River School artists. Many of his later works focus on New England folk culture and aspects of colonial life, and often feature imagery and architecture that is endemic to the region such as stone barns, covered bridges, and rocky mountainscapes. He painted in a realistic style with a warm palette, choosing to include a high level of observed detail. Born Everard Jean Hinrichs on February 27, 1905 in New York, NY, Sloane became interested in art after working in typography and sign painting. The artist received formal training from the Art Students League of New York and assumed the alias Eric Sloane to disassociate himself from his earlier, less successful work. After completing his education, the artist worked as commercial illustrator, notably for the books A Reverence for Wood and The Cracker Barrel. Today, his work is held in the collection of Sloane-Stanley Museum in Kent, CT and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which houses one of his major works, the Earth Flight Environment Mural which serves as a tribute to the landscape of the American Southwest. Sloane died from a heart attack at the age of 80 on March 5, 1985 in New York, NY.