Joshua Shaw (1776–1860) was an English-born painter, inventor, and one of the early pioneers of American landscape painting. Born in Lincolnshire and orphaned young, he was apprenticed to a sign painter, where his artistic talent first emerged before he went on to exhibit in London, including at the Royal Academy.

In 1817 he emigrated to the United States, settling in Philadelphia and quickly becoming an important figure in the developing American art scene. Shaw is best known for his dramatic depictions of the American wilderness, helping to establish a distinctly national landscape tradition that anticipated the Hudson River School.

Between 1819 and 1821 he collaborated with engraver John Hill on Picturesque Views of American Scenery, a widely circulated series that helped popularise American landscape imagery both in the US and abroad. Alongside his painting, Shaw was also an inventor, holding patents including an improved percussion cap for firearms.

His work is noted for its atmospheric effects, careful detail, and sense of scale, and remains significant in the history of 19th-century American art.