Facts:   - death place: west -rrb- hoboken , new jersey -lrb- now union city    - training: self-taught    - resting place: bergen cemetery    - born: middletown , connecticut    - birth name: william tylee ranney    - caption: 1839 self-portrait    - death date: 18 november 1857    - field: painting , portraiture      - works: '' a courting scene '' '' the old oaken bucket '' on '' the match boy '' '' prairie burial '' the wing '' -lrb- 1850 -rrb- ''    - birth date: 9 may 1813    - name: william ranney    - nationality: american    - image: william tylee ranney , self-portrait , 1839.jpg    - birth place: middletown , connecticut   Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of william ranney .
william tylee ranney -lrb- may 9 , 1813 -- november 18 , 1857 -rrb- was a 19th-century american painter , known for his depictions of western life , sporting scenery , historical subjects and portraiture .in his 20-year career , he made 150 paintings and 80 drawings , and is considered the first major genre painter to work in new jersey , and one of the most important pre-civil war american painters .his work is on display in several museums across the united states .one of his contemporaries opinioned , `` a specimen of ranney is indispensable wherever a collection of american art exists . ''