...ge, The wisest heads and noblest hearts. The first painter who found his way to America professionally was John Watson, a Scotchman, who was born in 1685. He began the practice of his art at Perth Amboy , then the capital of New Jersey, in 1715, where he purchased land and built houses. He died at an old age. John Smybert (q. v.) came with Dean Berkeley in 1728, and began portrait-painting in Newpo...