Thomas Kirby Van Zandt

Thomas Kirby Van Zandt (March 7, 1814 - January 2, 1886) was a painter active in the Albany, New York region. He is remembered for his paintings of race horses for owners including Leland Stanford, Erastus Corning, and Eli Whitney, but also painted bust-length portraits of Albany citizens, dogs, and other animals. It has been hypothesized (see Ione) that Van Zandt traced his horse figures from lantern projections of Eadweard Muybridge's celebrated photographs. Van Zandt is buried in the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.

Judge Van Aernum in his Sleigh by Thomas Kirby Van Zandt, 1855

Captain Hamilton Leroy Shields of Bennington, with his trotter Mary Colgate

References

• Art across America: two centuries of regional painting, 1710-1920, Volume 1, William H. Gerdts, Abbeville Press, Oct 15, 1990, page 176.
• America the beautiful: 19th & 20th century paintings from the Walter and Lucille Rubin collection, Boca Raton Museum of Art, 2003, page 181.
• Innovation and Visualization: Trajectories, Strategies, and Myths, Amy Ione, Rodopi, 2005, page 118. Volume 1 of Consciousness, literature & the arts, ISSN 1573-2193. ISBN 9789042016750.