Hamilton Gibbs Wilde was a portrait, genre, and landscape painter. His father, James C. Wilde or Wild, was a bank cashier.
Wilde studied in Europe in 1846 and again about 1859. He lived in Rome, Italy in 1859; Boston in 1853, 1854, 1862, 1867, and 1880; and Philadelphia in 1863. He exhibited at the Boston Athenaeum (1853-1869), the National Academy of Design (1863, 1871), the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1853-1880), and the Boston Art Club (1874, 1876). The titles exhibited give no evidence of any White Mountain scenes.
He is mentioned, however, a number of times in Champney’s Book, Sixty Years’ Memories of Art and Artists. According to Champney, Wilde traveled with him in 1846 to study art in France. In the years 1852 and 1853, Champney reports that Wilde was in North Conway staying at Thompson’s Kearsarge House, a popular lodging spot for artists visiting the area. In 1866, Champney met up with Wilde in Rome.