Though he was born in Norwich, England in 1833 and lived in London for the second half of his life, George Henry Boughton's formative years as a self-taught artist began in Albany, New York, where his family settled in the 1830's. Recognized as a leading landscape and genre painter in the United States and abroad, Boughton illustrated editions of Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle and History of New York and Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter.  In his landscapes, he painted scenes of England, Brittany and the Netherlands.

By age 19 Boughton was a landscape painter of note and opened his first studio in 1852. The American Art Union purchased one of his early pictures and exhibited his work enabling him to study in England for six months. In 1857, Boughton exhibited at the Washington Art Association, and from 1859 to 1860 he worked in New York City.  In 1860, he traveled to Paris where he studied under Edouard Frere and Edouard May. The French influences were subsequently reflected in his style. Boughton established a studio in London in 1861 where he focused on subjects of American Colonial history.

Boughton's work is in several collections including the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut; Boston Museum of Fine Art; New York Historical Society; and Tate Gallery, London.