He painted landscapes in New York, Connecticut, the American West, England, and France.

[4] He created 47 landscape paintings during an 1873 expedition to Colorado which were chosen to be part of the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.

[4] He moved to New York City in 1881 and shortly after began to practice genre painting and etching.

[7][8] Until the end of the century, he and his family resided alternately in upstate New York, Long Island, Colorado, and England.

[13] Hamilton was known for his landscape paintings of the American West, New York, Connecticut, England, and France.