Thomas Cole
Landscape painting was an extremely
important time during the middle of the
nineteenth century. One of the
leading practitioners of landscape painters in
America was Thomas Cole.
He went to many places seeking the natural world in
which he used direct
observation to show his audience the untainted nature by
man. His works
helped to find goodness in American land and to help Americans
take pride in
their unique geological features created by god. Thomas Cole
inspired many
with his brilliant works by bringing satisfaction among the people
who were
trying to find "the truth" (realism) through the works of others.
Thomas
Cole was born on February 1, 1801 in Bolton, Lancashire, England. Due
to
financial problems experienced by his family, at the age of fourteen Cole
found
work as a textile printer and wood engraver in Philadelphia. In 1819,
Cole
returned to Ohio where his parents resided. Here Cole learned the oil
painting
techniques of a portrait painter named Stein. During this time Cole
was
extremely impressed by what he saw in the landscapes of the New World and
how
different they were from the small town of England where he had come
from. Art
came to Cole naturally, he taught himself, and one day set out to
observe nature
and the wilderness. He began painting pictures by first making
oil sketches of
American rocks, trees, sunsets, plants, animals, as well
as distant Indians.
From these sketches he formed several paintings. He
is famous for his
allegorical collection called the "The Course of Empire"
and is well-known
for his Landscape paintings, "The Oxbow," "The
Woodchopper," and "The
Clove, Catskills." In January of 1826, Cole was
known for the being the
founder of the National Academy of Design. During
this time many people wanted
Cole to paint pictures of American scenery
for them, but his main goal, he says,
was to create a "higher style of
landscape that could express moral or
religious meanings." Cole continued to
paint and in 1836 he married Maria
Barstow and settled in Catskill, New
York. Catskill was the place where he
sketched a portrait of the Catskill
Mountains and the Hudson River. From these
paintings he influenced a lot of
other artists such as Frederick Edwin Church
along with Albert Bierstadt.
Cole died on February 11, 1848 due to an illness
and was remembered by many
whom he helped to see the true vision of America.
Thomas Cole led the
first American school of Landscape, called the Hudson River
School. This
school included many leading artist such as Asher Brown Durand,
Thomas
Doughty, as well as the second generation of artists such as
Frederick
Edwin Church, Sanford Gifford, and Albert Bierstadt. These
painters shared a
common background. They were Romantic Realists who found
great wonders in the
countryside of the New World. They searched the Hudson
Valley and areas of New
England to find unique images of America. These
realists combined detailed
panoramic images with moralistic insights, which
they obtained from famous works
of literature of Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman,
and Bryant. They saw the landscape
as having a feeling of hopefulness,
divinity, and harmony. This school was an
important part of the American
culture. Many neighboring countries had crushed
America during the time
of war and peace. Since that time, Americans yearned to
see their nation
survive. In his paintings, Cole seems to focus on an ideal
America. He
does this by painting vistas that mix both idealism and realism. He
impressed
several of his colleagues teaching them that a landscape painter must
have
strength, determination, and should be willing to conquer the hazards of
the
weather and terrain in order to achieve success. In 1825, an artist
named
John Trumball discovered Cole’s work in the window of a frame shop.
Trumball
purchased many of Cole’s paintings and this was brought to the
attention of
many critics who loved Cole’s style. The success of the Hudson
River School
led to the formation of the National Academy of Design. In the
beginning of the
1800’s, artists such as Thomas Cole painted pictures of
the East and closer to
the Hudson Valley. By the 1850’s artists began to
travel further into the west
and distant places such as the South American
Tropical environments to capture a
more spectacular American wilderness. The
result of Cole’s first sketch on
this trip up the Hudson River inspired a new
generation of artists to follow his
direction. "The Course of the Empire,"
painted by Thomas Cole, was one of
his famous allegorical works that dealt
with the stages of an empire. This
painting is separated into five stages:
The Savage State, The Pastoral State,
The Consummation of Empire,
Destruction, and Desolation. These canvases portray
the relationship between
man and nature. Cole believed that human empires and
civilizations were not
permanent. Throughout history, empires have risen and
fallen. He is trying to
say that man can dominate and create a civilization, but
he will soon return
to destruction and failure. In this scenery, Cole painted
each picture in the
same location, but used different seasons, time, and weather
conditions to
come up with an appropriate mood for each of his paintings. The
message Cole
gives out for this painting is that nature has the supreme control,
and no
matter what man does, his actions cannot stop anything. In his first
canvas,
"The Savage State," a bay with grassy green land is seen on the near
side. On
the far side there is smoke rising from the colony of teepees and
a
noticeable mountain. The atmosphere of the painting seems dark and
untamed.
Broken trees, thick underbrush, and a hunter trying to kill a
deer can be seen
in the foreground. From a far distance one can see the fire
and gathering of the
savages. The hunters are perceived as wild because they
are running near a
stream with their weapons, such as bows and spears and are
ready to attack for
food. The dark gray clouds in this painting hover about
the mountain, while the
water remains to show its roughness by crashing
against the shore. This work of
art represents the "Primitive" state of the
natural world in the presence of
man. Thomas Cole writes in his prose
description of this stage, "The Empire is
asserted, although to a limited
degree, over sea, land, and the animal
kingdom" (qtd. in Parry156). In his
second section, called "The Pastoral
State," the area is the same, but
the perspective of the painting has slightly
changed. Unlike the first stage
with its broken trees, this stage is tamed and
ordered. There are beautiful
green grass fields in the scene, which may show
that men have tamed the area
in order to suit themselves. This painting shows
several people being busy in
their daily lives and some even relaxing. For
example, shepherds can be seen
as well as thinkers, imperial soldiers, and women
working on chores at the
stream with their children. The animals are being used
for agriculture work
and some are grazing. More houses and different sorts of
building styles can
be seen compared to the first stage painting. In this
painting, the mood
appears to be calm and pleasant just like the way the people
are enjoying
themselves. Overall, this image represents a state in which man has
changed
nature to suit himself by taming the ones that are barbaric and being
more
civilized about the essential quality of nature. The third portion of
this
painting is "The Consummation of Empire." There are great advances in
this
painting than the first two. Roads and other structures have been built.
The
water is calm, there are a few clouds, and two columns can be seen
marking the
entrance to the bay. A lot more people are present in this
setting than the
previous stages. There are crowds of people seen walking on
luxurious walkways,
boats, and the buildings. The environment in this
painting shows human beings as
being prosperous and abundant. They have
dominated nature by changing the
natural world to fit them. The fourth part
of the series is "Destruction."
In this scene, warriors are attacking the
community and nothing can be seen but
massacres and destruction. Fighting is
going on everywhere while the dead and
the dying lay around the walkways and
near the buildings. The columns that were
seen in the third stage by the bay
have been broken and so have some of the
houses. The sea is not calm and the
clouds appear smoky and thick. The main
purpose of this canvas is to indicate
that human empires do not last, and at
some point they may face destruction.
The final part of this painting is
"Desolation." Unlike all the other
paintings, this one takes place at night.
The night is calm with the
glistening moon reflecting in the bay and a few
clouds strung out in the
night sky. No humans are present in this setting, but
by viewing the painting
one can see evidence of human existence. Broken pillars
and ruined structures
line the coast while they are being overgrown by mosses
and plants. The area
is quite wild due to the awkward growing of plants
everything. The mountain
still stands in its place, but alone without any human
presence. The sea
shines with peacefulness. On the far side two deer can been
perceived
drinking water. The point of this portrait is to let the viewer know
that
nature has reclaimed the land. The deer have returned and so have the
plants
and trees, but the people have not. The marks of the human beings have
become
part of the natural world. Cole had many views about nature, human life
and
mortality. He felt that the nation had a wild beauty. Cole said in one of
his
articles, "To walk with nature as a poet is the necessary condition of
a
perfect artist." He illustrated the American landscape with a new vision,
but
at the same time he did not forget to paint pictures that portray
allegorical
and religious subjects. He believed that as men live and die so
do plants and
animals. Cole used eroded mountains and dried up rivers to
symbolize the cycles
of nature as being compared with humans. What he meant
by this was that man dies
as he ages and nature also looses its agility.
Sometimes Cole’s art works
represent that as the early settlement of America
is passing by, a new one is
taking its place. This America that he portrays
is competitive, abundant with
resources, and there is also a society ranked
by class. Cole enjoyed painting
nature and he used nature in comparison to
life. Another one of Cole’s finest
achievements would be "The Oxbow."
Completed in 1836, the sketches for this
painting were completed at a real
place, the Connecticut River Valley. On the
left is the wilderness of the
mountain. Dead trees and living trees symbolize
the cycle of nature. From a
distance one can see the peaceful bend in the river,
a golden light coming
from the left, a storm spotted from far, and some trees
blasted out on the
near side. This picture is painted as if the audience is
taken into the
moment. In the center of the painting, the artist is sitting and
painting the
scene with his painting kit. The artist cannot be seen at a first
glimpse
because he is extremely tiny in the picture. He gives the audience a
look at
the future possibilities if they looked into the distance. The fading
storm
shows that the wild will eventually be replaced by the civilized.
This
scenery is beautifully shown with its bright colors and amazing
developed
features. Thomas Cole did an excellent job in portraying realism in
his
paintings. He helped America vision a society with possibilities,
opportunities,
and abundance of resources. Not only did Cole inspire the
nation; he also
influenced many artists who are now heading Cole’s way. Cole
was a brilliant
man of great intelligence who stole the hearts of many. In an
article written by
William Church Bryant, he says, "We might dream in his
funeral oration on
Cole, that the conscious valleys miss his accustomed
visits and that autumnal
glories of the woods are paler because of his
departure."
Bibliography
Harvey, Eleanor Jones. The Painted
Sketch: American Impressions From Nature
1830-1880. Dallas: Harry N.
Abrams, Inc., 1998. Lucie-Smith, Edward. American
Realism. New York:
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994. Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History.
Rev. ed.
Vol. 2. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995. 973-974. Yaeger, Bert
D.
The Hudson River School: American Landscape Artists. New York:
Smithmark
Publishers,
1996.