Category: Thomas Cole

Thomas Cole Unbound: Biography of America’s Revered Landscape Painter

Born in England’s industrial northeast in 1801, artist Thomas Cole emigrated to America as a young man. Here, he found a country brimming with unchartered and untamed wilderness. His masterful handling of light, composition, and aerial perspective captured the sublime character of the American wilderness. Cole found his unique place as one of the first…


The Course of Empire

In the early 19th century, the United States of America was still a newborn nation. As Americans turned their eyes Westward, a new and uncertain future awaited them. The North American continent was far from fully explored, and America’s identity was still in the process of self-discovery. Artists of the Romantic era in America—and particularly…


Thomas Cole: The Course of Empire

In the early 19th century, the United States of America was still a newborn nation. As Americans turned their eyes Westward, a new and uncertain future awaited them. The North American continent was far from fully explored, and America’s identity was still in the process of self-discovery. Artists of the Romantic era in America—and particularly…


‘The Voyage of Life’

America’s first great landscape painter, Thomas Cole, was a pivotal figure in the development of a distinctly American artistic identity in the early 19th century. Cole’s masterful landscapes range from picturesque compositions of America’s pristine wilderness to imaginative historical and allegorical scenes. The revered artist’s devotion to seeking the presence of God in nature inspired…


Landscapes of the Sublime

Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher. —William Wordsworth In times when “progress” charts a potentially perilous course for humanity, it’s the role of art to remind us of our connection to life, both inside and outside ourselves. In the 18th and 19th centuries, as the industrial revolution transformed the…