# Burning Oil Well at Night, near Rouseville, Pennsylvania

**James Hamilton** (born near Belfast, Ireland 1819-died San Francisco, CA 1878)  
ca. 1861  
oil on paperboard  
22 x 16 1/8 in. (55.9 x 40.9 cm)

Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1977.50. [The museum's record](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=9887).

## About this work

Rouseville, Pennsylvania, lay within a few miles of Titusville and Pithole City, two of the most famous boomtowns in Pennsylvania ’s oil fields. From 1859 until after the Civil War, new gushers brought investors, cardsharps, saloons, and speculators into these rural settlements. As quickly as they grew, however, the towns collapsed, often from the effects of fires like the one shown here. In the 1860s, American industrialist John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) was in the thick of this oil boom, maneuvering to establish the Standard Oil Company. Rockefeller’s investments in railroads and refineries would make him one of America’s richest men, long after the wildcatters in the Pennsylvania fields had gone bust.

_Text from the Smithsonian American Art Museum._

James Hamilton painted this in about 1861, aged 42. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [James Hamilton](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/james-hamilton)

born near Belfast, Ireland 1819-died San Francisco, CA 1878

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was 42
- Real size: about 22 × 16 in (56 × 41 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Landscapes, Night, Disasters, Moon, Outer space, Fire, Figure group, Time
- Colour: black
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1951.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1951/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/burning-oil-well-at-night-near-rouseville-pennsylvania-si-saam-1977-50).