Setting a new movement in American art, Thomas Cole copiously studied nature. Every twist and bend in an ancient cedar’s roots, every leaf, every hue of a sunset, Thomas Cole brought to life landscape painting as none have before and opened up the American west in a sublime marriage of man, nature and the eternal.
Cole emigrated to the United States from England in 1818. He later moved to New York in 1825 and settled in the Catskill mountains. Cole sketched and detailed the vast and changing landscapes of the northern wilderness. Thomas Cole had little formal training in art, he learned oil painting from a portrait artist and began to paint some of the most detailed, grand and stirring landscape paintings of his era.
Cole’s paintings were unique, in that they combined figure and landscape painting. In the groves of trees, people play, observe and rest in utopic settings. The people are miniscule compared to the towering trees, lakes and mountains surrounding them, but their detail draws you in for a closer look.
In ‘The Connecticut River Near Northampton,’ a painting depicting the well-known oxbow bend in the Connecticut river, Cole shows an untrammeled and fierce wilderness on the right, breaking towards even, orderly farmlands on the left. Cole often played on the theme of environmental stewardship. The land seemed to be touched by a luminous quality, the land is something to cherish.
In ‘The Connecticut River Near Northampton,’ a painting depicting the well-known oxbow bend in the Connecticut river, Cole shows an untrammeled and fierce wilderness on the right, breaking towards even, orderly farmlands on the left. Cole often played on the theme of environmental stewardship. The land seemed to be touched by a luminous quality, the land is something to cherish.
Growing up during the Industrial Revolution, he saw his beloved Catskills become ever more developed. He thought the wilderness was the work of God, and it is our duty to protect it. Thomas was quoted as saying, “None know how often the hand of God is seen in a wilderness but them that rove it for a man’s life.”
Abroad, Architecture and a Higher Ideal
In 1829, Cole had already become quite well known in the arts community, his paintings of the Hudson river valley earned the respect of some of the leading artists in New York. Later, he traveled to Europe, taking inspiration from the citadels of Rome and the paintings of the old masters.
Cole returned to New York and received a commission from Luman Reed, a wealthy merchant. The commission led to a five-piece series entitled ‘The Course of Empire’ depicting the rough beginnings of a fledgling society developing into a decadent empire, its consummation, and eventual destruction.
Thomas Cole wasn’t as fond of painting architecture. Commissioned to do so, he did with a little chargrin. His true passion was the wilderness. He founded the Hudson River School and his successors continued to preserve the image of the American landscape.
In a new and vast country, Thomas Cole helped shape the American identity. The vast open spaces became who we were. With the likes of Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Cole made the wilderness accessible and revealed its inner secrets.
