It’s the same hesitancy that was shared by Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole, whose epic five-part masterpiece The Course of Empire could be considered the original American work of ...

One of the reasons most art writing is not worth reading—and there are several reasons—is the irritating habit of critics of personalizing their subject and making it all about themselves. It ...

Thomas Cole, The Consummation, from The Course of Empire series, 1836 Throughout the nineteenth century, all eyes watched anxiously the development of culture. Optimistic humanists’ hopes for social ...

As Allison C. Meier writes in her essay “When Landscape Painting Was Protest Art,” Cole’s mid-1830s series “The Course of Empire” reflected his anxiety over 19th-century American ...

The never-before-seen journal by the prominent artist Thomas Cole offers a window into his thoughts on art, nature, and political and societal change in 19th century America.

Thomas Cole, The Consummation, from The Course of Empire series, 1836. The Consummation of Empire. In the picture No. 3, we suppose other ages have passed, and the rude village has become a ...

Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: Destruction, 1836. Oil on canvas, 39 1/4 x 63 1/2 in. New-York Historical Society. Looking to one of his earlier works in the show, a large, overly lush Biblical ...

Nearly two centuries ago, when America was still young, Thomas Cole had a premonition of how our civilization would end. In a cycle of five paintings titled The Course of Empire, Cole showed the ...

Thomas Cole, "A View of the Mountain Pass Called the Notch of the White Mountains ... His “The Course of Empire” series depicted the rise and decay of civilization, ...