View from Mount Holyoke
(The Oxbow), c.1836
Thomas Cole [1801-1848]
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Thomas Cole was born in Bolton-le-Moor,
Lancashire, England, February 1, 1801.
His father, a woolen manufacturer, moved the
family to Philadelphia in 1819, where he
opened a dry-goods shop while Thomas took
up wood-engraving which he had already
practiced at Liverpool.
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The family soon moved to Steubenville, Ohio,
where the father set up a wallpaper factory;
Thomas remained in Philadelphia.
Thomas rejoined his family in 1820, aiding his
father in the manufacture of wallpaper.
Thomas Cole
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His chance meeting with an itinerant portrait
painter named Stein resulted in his decision
to become an artist.
Stein taught him the rudiments of mixing
color and lent him a treatise on the theory of
color.
He had little success painting portraits, and
his interest shifted to landscape.
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Since the wallpaper business was losing
money, his father decided to move to
Pittsburgh in 1823.
Thomas again remained behind, painting, but
soon joined his family to help in his father’s
newest venture: manufacturing floor
coverings.
He next spent some months in Philadelphia
and then rejoined his family who had moved
to New York City.
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A New York merchant, George W. Bruen, who had
admired some of Cole’s studio paintings, paid his
steamboat fare up the river to explore the Catskills.
Cole took the three oil paintings that resulted
from this trip to a frame shop on Broadway in
New York City where they were seen by Col. John
Trumbull, president of the American Academy of
Fine Arts and, at the time, one of the most
influential men in New York art circles.
Trumbull introduced Cole’s work to collectors and
artists alike and from then on his fame spread.
The Hudson River School of landscape painting
was launched.
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He is regarded as the founder of the Hudson
River School, an American art movement that
flourished in the mid-19th century.
Cole's Hudson River School, as well as his
own work, was known for its realistic and
detailed portrayal of American landscape and
wilderness, which feature themes of
romanticism and naturalism.
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Romanticism (or the Romantic Era) was a
complex artistic, literary, and intellectual
movement that originated in the second half of the
18th century in Europe, and gained strength in
reaction to the Industrial Revolution.
In part, it was a revolt against aristocratic social
and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment
and a reaction against the scientific
rationalisation of nature
It embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music,
and literature, but had a major impact on
historiography, education and natural history.
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Over the next few years he would spend
many weeks in travel and the exploration of
scenery in the Catskills and the White
Mountains.
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In 1826 Cole was invited to become a
founder of the National Academy of Design.
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In June 1829 he sailed for England, where he
stayed for two years;
He toured France and Italy before returning
to New York in November 1832.
After 1827 Cole maintained a studio at the
farm called Cedar Grove in the town of
Catskill, New York. He painted a significant
portion of his work in this studio.
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In 1836 he married Maria Bartow of Catskill, a niece
of the owner, and became a year-round resident.
Thomas and Maria had five children:
Theodore Alexander Cole, born January 1, 1838
Mary Bartow Cole, born September 23, 1839
Emily Cole, born August 27, 1843
Elizabeth Cole, born April 5, 1847 (died in infancy)
Thomas Cole, Jr., born September 16, 1848
Romanticism
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The movement validated strong emotion as
an authentic source of aesthetic experience,
placing new emphasis on such emotions as
trepidation, horror and terror and awe—
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especially that which is experienced in
confronting the sublimity of untamed nature
and its picturesque qualities.
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His two most famous works,
"The Course of Empire" and
"The Voyage of Life,"
were commissioned by Luman Reed and
Samuel Ward, respectively, both of whom
died before the works were completed.
The Course of Empire
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The first painting, The Savage State, shows
the valley from the shore opposite the crag, in
the dim light of a dawning stormy day.
A hunter clad in skins hastens through the
wilderness, pursuing a deer; canoes paddle
up the river; on the far shore can be seen a
clearing with a cluster of wigwams around a
fire, the nucleus of the city that is to be.
The visual references are those of Native
American life.
The Course of Empire The Savage State 1836
The Arcadian or Pastoral State
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In the second painting, The Arcadian or
Pastoral State, the sky has cleared and we
are in the fresh morning of a day in spring
or early summer.
The viewpoint has shifted further down the
river, as the crag with the boulder is now
on the left-hand side of the painting; a
forked peak can be seen in the distance
beyond it.
Much of the wilderness has given way to
settled lands, with plowed fields and lawns
visible.
The Course of Empire
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Various activities go on in the background:
plowing, boat-building, herding sheep, dancing;
in the foreground, an old man sketches what
may be a geometrical problem with a stick.
On a bluff on the near side of the river, a
megalithic temple has been built, and smoke
(presumably from sacrifices) arises from it.
The images reflect an idealized, pre-urban
ancient Greece.
The Consummation of Empire
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The third painting, The Consummation of Empire,
shifts the viewpoint to the opposite shore,
approximately the site of the clearing in the first
painting.
It is noontide of a glorious summer day. Both sides
of the river valley are now covered in colonnaded
marble structures, whose steps run down into the
water.
The megalithic temple seems to have been
transformed into a huge domed structure dominating
the river-bank.
The mouth of the river is guarded by two pharoses,
and ships with lateen sails go out to the sea beyond.
The Course of Empire Consummation
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A joyous crowd throngs the balconies and
terraces as a scarlet-robed king or victorious
general crosses a bridge connecting the two
sides of the river in a triumphal procession.
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In the foreground an elaborate fountain
gushes.
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The overall look suggests the height of
ancient Rome.
The Destruction of Empire
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The fourth painting, has almost the same
perspective as the third, though the artist has
stepped back a bit to allow a wider scene of
the action, and moved almost to the center of
the river.
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The action is the sack and destruction of the
city, in the course of a tempest seen in the
distance. It seems that a fleet of enemy
warriors has overthrown the city's defenses,
sailed up the river, and is busily firing the city
and killing and raping its inhabitants.
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The bridge across which the triumphal procession
had crossed is broken; a makeshift crossing strains
under the weight of soldiers and refugees.
Columns are broken, fire breaks from the upper
floors of a palace on the river bank. In the
foreground a statue of some venerable hero stands
headless, still striding forward into the uncertain
future, reminiscent of the hunter in the first painting.
The scene is perhaps suggested by the Vandal sack
of Rome in 455.
Desolation
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The fifth painting, shows the results, years
later. We view the remains of the city in the
livid light of a dying day.
The landscape has begun to return to
wilderness, and no human beings are to be
seen; but the remnants of their architecture
emerge from beneath a mantle of trees, ivy,
and other overgrowth.
The broken stumps of the pharoses loom in
the background.
The Course of Empire Desolation 1836
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The arches of the shattered bridge, and the
columns of the temple are still visible; a
single column looms in the foreground, now a
nesting place for birds.
The sunrise of the first painting is mirrored
here by a moonrise, a pale light reflecting in
the ruin-choked river while the standing pillar
reflects the last rays of sunset.
Sic transit gloria mundi. that means "Thus
passes the glory of the world". It has been
interpreted as "Worldly things are fleeting."
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Of "The Course of Empire," James Fenimore
Cooper said it was "the work of the highest
genius this country has ever produced."
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The series was exhibited in the fall of 1836
and then was stored until it was donated to
the New-York Historical Society in 1858.
The Voyage of Life
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Was well received by critics and the public;
The United States was experiencing the religious
revival sometimes known as the Second Great
Awakening.
The four paintings were converted to engravings by
James Smillie (1807–1885) after Cole's death
The engravings widely distributed in time for the
Third Great Awakening, giving the series the
prestige and popular acclaim it retains today.
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Childhood, all the important story elements of the
series are introduced:
the voyager, the angel, the river, and the
expressive landscape.
An infant is safely ensconced in a boat guided by an
angel. The landscape is lush; everything is calm and
basking in warm sunshine, reflecting the innocence
and joy of childhood.
The boat glides out of a dark, craggy cave which
Cole himself described as "emblematic of our
earthly origin, and the mysterious Past." The river is
smooth and narrow, symbolizing the sheltered
experience of childhood.
The figurehead on the prow holds an hourglass
representing time.
The Voyage of Life Childhood 1842
The Voyage of Life - Childhood
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Youth, shows the same rich, green
landscape, but here the view widens as does
the voyager's experience.
Now the youth grabs the tiller firmly as the
angel watches and waves from the shore,
allowing him to take control.
The boy's enthusiasm and energy is evident
in his forward-thrusting pose and billowing
clothes.
In the distance, a ghostly castle hovers in the
sky, a white and shimmering beacon that
represents the ambitions and dreams of man.
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To the youth, the calm river seems to lead straight to
the castle, but at the far right of the painting one can
just glimpse the river as it becomes rough, choppy,
and full of rocks.
Cole comments on the landscape and the youth's
ambitions: "The scenery of the picture--its clear
stream, its lofty trees, its towering mountains, its
unbounded distance, and transparent atmosphere-figure forth the romantic beauty of youthful
imaginings, when the mind elevates the Mean and
Common into the Magnificent, before experience
teaches what is the Real."
The Voyage of Life Youth 1842
The Voyage of Life -Youth
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Manhood, the youth has grown into an adult
and now faces the trials of life.
The boat is damaged and the tiller is gone.
The river has become a terrible rush of white
water with menacing rocks, dangerous
whirlpools, and surging currents.
The warm sunlight of youth has been clouded
over with dark and stormy skies and torrential
rains.
The trees have become wind-beaten,
gnarled, leafless trunks. The fresh grass is
gone, replaced by hard and unforgiving rock.
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In the boat, the man no longer displays
confidence or even control.
The angel appears high in the sky, still
watching over the man, who does not see the
angel.
Man must rely on his faith that the angel is
there to help him. Cole states, "Trouble is
characteristic of the period of Manhood.
In childhood, there is no carking care: in
youth, no despairing thought.
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It is only when experience has taught us the
realities of the world, that we lift from our
eyes the golden veil of early life;
That we feel deep and abiding sorrow:
The gloomy, eclipse-like tone, the conflicting
elements, the trees riven by tempest, are the
allegory;
The Ocean, dimly seen, figures the end of
life, which the Voyager is now approaching."
The Voyage of Life - Manhood
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There is a strong emphasis on the diagonal:
in the rocks which jut up, steep and
forbidding, and the river which sweeps
downward, threatening to carry anything in or
on it over the precipitous drop to the twisting
and foaming rapids in the mid-ground.
The extreme narrowness of the passage
between the two rock face heightens the
tension as the viewer tries to determine
whether or not a small craft could navigate
these tumultuous waters.
In addition, evil spirits stare down from the
dark clouds above.
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It is only in the distant background that the
viewer captures a glimpse of the horizon.
This line, where the distant ocean meets the
sunset colored sky, is the only horizontal line
in the painting.
Amidst the chaos and confusion of the wild
scene in the foreground, one catches a
glimpse of possible serenity.
Cole has positioned this focal point just below
and to the right of center. The combination of
the lone horizontal and warm color in an
otherwise dark and forbidding scene,
beckons the viewer’s eye back again and
again.
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The silhouette of a gnarled tree trunk
opposes the diagonals of the rocks and river,
forcing the eye back into the scene.
Here the twisted and rotting trunk is used, as
it often is in Cole’s work, as a symbol for the
savage (untamed) wilderness and all its
dangers.
The funnel-shaped cloud that appears above
the tree leads the eye up into the forbidding
clouds of the sky, over the top and to the left,
where the downward arc of the clouds forces
it back down again into the river.
The Voyage of Life Old Age 1842
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Old Age, is an image of death. The man has
grown old; he has survived the trials of life.
The waters have calmed; the river flows into
the waters of eternity. The figurehead and
hourglass are missing from the battered boat;
The withered old voyager has reached the
end of earthly time. In the distance, angels
are descending from heaven, while the
guardian angel hovers close, gesturing
toward the others.
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The man is once again joyous with the
knowledge that faith has sustained him
through life.
The landscape is practically gone, just a few
rough rocks represent the edge of the earthly
world, and dark water stretches onward.
Cole describes the scene: "The chains of
corporeal existence are falling away; and
already the mind has glimpses of Immortal
Life."
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Cole again visited Europe in 1841-1842,
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The Adirondacks in 1846 and
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Niagara Falls in 1847.
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Niagria Falls
Architecture work
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Cole dabbled in architecture, a not
uncommon practice at the time when the
profession was not so codified.
Cole was an entrant in the design competition
held in 1838 to create the Ohio Statehouse in
Columbus, Ohio.
His entry won third premium, and many
contend that the finished building, a
composite of the first, second and third place
entries, bears a great similarity to Cole's
entry.
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In 1848, a week after his 47th birthday he
died of a virulent pneumonia.
Summing Up
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Thomas Cole (1801–1848):
As a teenager, Cole immigrated to America
from England, and went on to found the
National Academy of Design in New York
City.
A master of pastoral landscapes, Cole set
out to capture the beauty and majesty of rural
America in his paintings.
Thomas Cole: The View of Mount
Holyoke, The Oxbow
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“The imagination can scarcely
conceive Arcadian vales more lovely
or more peaceful than the valley of
the Connecticut,”
- Thomas Cole in his
“Essay on American Scenery.”
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villages are rural places
where trees overspread every
dwelling, and the fields upon its
margin have the richest verdure.”
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idealized view of rural
America was already starting to
collapse when Cole painted
View from Mount Holyoke, also
known as The Oxbow.
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By the 1830s, Mount Holyoke had
become one of the most popular
tourist destinations in the United
States, surpassed only by Niagara
Falls, and the influx of sightseers was
bound to disrupt its pastoral
atmosphere.
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In selecting this corner of the country
to preserve in a monumental painting,
Cole produced an enduring visual
record of a vanishing way of life.
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Landscape was a popular and profitable type
of painting in the early decades of the
nineteenth century.
A growing population of urban dwellers
looked on rural life as a remedy for the
problems of industrialization.
If they were too caught up in business to
make weekend trips to the country, these
affluent people could at least turn their gaze
on a peaceful picture of the life they’d left
behind.
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Landscape paintings were especially wellliked in the 19th century, when urban dwellers
viewed rural life as a remedy for the problems
of industrialization.
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Thomas Cole’s split representation of the
Connecticut Valley depicts the inherent
conflict between wilderness and civilization
that characterized westward expansion.
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Cole’s decision to portray the famous
view from Mount Holyoke was
initially commercial
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He took advantage of the American
taste for identifiable native scenery
to paint what he hoped would be a
marketable painting.
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Intent on producing a crowd-pleaser,
Cole adopted a trick from the
panorama, a theatrical display in
which an enormous picture is
revealed to the spectator one section
at a time.
The Oxbow
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On a canvas nearly six feet wide, Cole
painted the view from the top of the mountain
as though it were experienced over time, with
a dramatic storm thundering through the
landscape.
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On the right side of the picture lies the
Arcadia that Cole described in his essay—an
idyllic place with tidy farms, a respectable
number of shade trees, and a meandering
river to enrich the soil.
The Oxbow
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The distinctive feature of this peaceful place
is the river’s graceful bend into a U-shape
that recalls an oxbow, itself an emblem of
human control over nature.
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The scene is set just after the storm, when
the skies are clearing and filled with a golden
light.
The Oxbow
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In contrast, the left side of the picture shows
the mountain wilderness still in the grip of the
thunderstorm.
The landscape is dark, with heavy skies and
an ominous flash of lightning.
The blasted trunks of the primitive forest
appear unrelated to the useful trees scattered
across the valley below.
The Oxbow
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The two realms are linked by a small but
significant detail:
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the red-and-white umbrella leaning
diagonally from the mountainside to make
a visual bridge across the river.
The Oxbow
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Below it lies an artist’s sketching gear,
including a portfolio bearing the signature of
Thomas Cole.
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The artist himself appears a few yards away,
a tiny figure in a flat-crowned hat nestled with
his easel into the rocks and trees.
The Oxbow
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Even though the neatly divided farmland
implies a human population, Cole is the
only visible actor in this sweeping
panorama,
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He has planted his sunshade like a flag to
claim the wilderness as his own territory.
The Oxbow
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It’s difficult to know what Cole believed.
He admired a landscape tamed and
cultivated by human hands, but he also
recognized that the “wildness” of the
American landscape, a sphere of moral
significance for Americans, was threatened
by the arrival of civilization.
The Oxbow
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On the hillside beyond The Oxbow, Cole left
a hidden message: the word Noah is roughly
incised in Hebrew letters, a code that read
upside down spells out
Shaddai, the Almighty.
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Is Cole suggesting that the landscape be
read as a holy text that reveals the word of
God?
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If so, wouldn’t any human intrusion be a
sacrilege?
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On the other hand, the artist’s careful division
of the landscape implies that civilization
drives out the danger and chaos inherent in
the natural world.
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Perhaps the painting itself embodies Cole’s
ambivalence.
Another thought ----
It was produced, after all, expressly for public
exhibition in the expectation of material
gain—an artful exploitation of the nation’s
natural beauty.
The Garden of Eden
1828
Romantic Landscape with Ruined Tower
1832-36
The Departure
1837
The Return
1837
The Past
1838
The Present
1838
L-Allegro (Italian Sunset)
1845
Il Penseroso
1845
Home in the Woods 1847