John Fredrick Kensett, a world-renowned landscape artist and impressionist, started out as an engraver working in his father's shops but decided that he wanted to draw, sketch and paint instead.

He pursued his artistic talent throughout his life and now his works can be seen in American Pastorale: Drawings by John F. Kensett, a new exhibit featured at the Palmer Museum of Art through Dec. 21.

"His works are very subtle and very lovely," said Julia Dolan, a graduate assistant at the Palmer Art Museum and curator of the new exhibit.

"They are quiet and it takes time to appreciate them and the subtleties that they contain," she added.

Kensett, born in 1816, lived during the 19th century. Like many artists of the 19th century, Kensett spent some of his years overseas. He worked in England and in France, and before he started selling his drawings, he supported himself by doing the engraving work that he had previously done in the United States.

After receiving some money from an inheritance, he went on to Italy, renowned for its beautiful, artistic inspirations and human figures.

It was in Italy that Kensett devoted himself to painting and built the foundation of the artist he grew to be.

When Kensett returned to New York he became an outstanding member in the National Academy of Design.

He was on the founding board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and became a prominent figure in the Hudson River School, which consisted of a group of men who illustrated landscape not only along the Hudson River but in the West as well.

Many of Kensett's drawings are of North American landscape and portray scenes from Colorado, Montana and Mississippi, as well as many other areas.

It is interesting to note that most of Kensett's works were done inside his studios. According to Dolan, Kensett, like many artists of the time, would not draw out in the open, he would sketch what he saw and then go back to the studio to work.

The exhibit at the museum contains 22 of Kensett's pieces, eight of which are figurative watercolor works and reflective of the time he spent in Europe. There is also one painting.