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William Tasker: The 3 Most Famous Paintings, Documented
Updated November 2026 · ranked by our popularity score (searches, visits and orders for each work) · 3 works by William Tasker in our catalogue
Summary
According to this ranking, Lord Westminster's Cardinal Puff, with Sam Darling Up, Winning the Tradesman's Plate, Chester (1839) is the most famous painting by William Tasker; the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, holds it. It is followed by The Liverpool and National Steeplechase at Aintree, 1843 (1843) and National Defense (1921). This list draws on the 3 works by William Tasker in the catalogue and records the 3 most famous, with date, holding museum and description for each entry.
Most works: Yale Center for British Art
William Tasker: top 10 entries of the list
William Tasker: holding museums
The 2 museums that hold the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by William Tasker | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 Yale Center for British Art |
New Haven | 2 | Lord Westminster's Cardinal Puff, with Sam Darling Up, Winning the Tradesman's Plate, Chester, The Liverpool and National Steeplechase at Aintree, 1843 |
 Metropolitan Museum of Art |
New York | 1 | National Defense |
William Tasker by decade: the most famous painting of each
Works per decade
Select a decade to display its principal painting.
1830s
Lord Westminster's Cardinal Puff, with Sam Darling Up, Winning the Tradesman's Plate, Chester
1 work this decade
William Tasker: questions and documented answers
Which William Tasker painting heads the list of most famous works?Display the answer
Lord Westminster's Cardinal Puff, with Sam Darling Up, Winning the Tradesman's Plate, Chester (1839), Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. The following entries are The Liverpool and National Steeplechase at Aintree, 1843 (1843) and National Defense (1921).
How many works by William Tasker are recorded?Display the answer
The catalogue records 3 works by William Tasker, dated between 1839 and 1921.
In which collections are William Tasker's most famous works held?Display the answer
Principally in Yale Center for British Art (New Haven) and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). The museum table above gives the full distribution.
Which dated works by William Tasker are the earliest and the latest here?Display the answer
The earliest dated work listed here is Lord Westminster's Cardinal Puff, with Sam Darling Up, Winning the Tradesman's Plate, Chester (1839); the latest is National Defense (1921).
Which works of William Tasker are held by the Yale Center for British Art?Display the answer
Lord Westminster's Cardinal Puff, with Sam Darling Up, Winning the Tradesman's Plate, Chester and The Liverpool and National Steeplechase at Aintree, 1843 are among the 2 works on this page in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.
William Tasker: life and work
The Light of the American Landscape
Born in New York City, William Tasker spent his life observing the way light settles upon the land. His brushwork followed the shifts of the Impressionist movement, focusing on the fleeting qualities of color and the atmosphere of the American landscape. He did not merely paint scenes; he captured the way light moves through a space, often working with oil on canvas to build texture and depth. His hands were accustomed to the quiet work of capturing the ephemeral, turning a specific moment in time into a permanent record of light and shadow.
His career was marked by a steady presence in the American art scene. He was part of a generation that helped bring new ways of seeing to the United States, participating in significant exhibitions that changed how people viewed local scenery. His work moved through the galleries of his time, finding its way into permanent collections where his specific handling of color remains visible.
A Record of Movement and Form
Tasker’s work captures the energy of specific moments, often focusing on the relationship between a subject and its surroundings. His paintings move between the quietude of the landscape and the structured motion of life. His oil on canvas works include:
In National Defense, there is a sense of weight and purpose. The paint carries a certain gravity, moving away from purely decorative scenes toward something more substantial. He had a way of grounding his subjects within a tangible reality, using color and light to define the space they occupy. His presence in the 1913 Armory Show helped bring these Impressionist sensibilities to a wider American audience.
Legacy in Color and Light
By the time of his death in 1933, Tasker had left behind a body of work that speaks to the evolution of American painting. His involvement in the Armory Show of 1913 placed him at the center of a major shift in artistic thought. He was there when the old ways of seeing were being challenged by new, more experimental approaches. His paintings remain in places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the brushstrokes still hold the light he once sought to capture. He remains a figure of the Impressionist movement, remembered for how he translated the atmosphere of his surroundings onto the canvas.