Thomas Cole
| Thomas Cole | |
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Thomas Cole, 1846
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| Born |
February 1, 1801 Bolton, Lancashire, England |
| Died | February 11, 1848 (aged 47) Catskill, New York |
| Nationality | English, American |
| Known for | Painting |
| Notable work | The Titan's Goblet (1833), The Oxbow (1836), The Course of Empire, The Voyage of Life |
| Movement | Hudson River School |
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 Cole's Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Smarthistory
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Cole's The Oxbow, Smarthistory
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Thomas Cole (February 1, 1801 – February 11, 1848) was an English-born American artist known for his landscape and history paintings. He is regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School, an American art movement that flourished in the mid-19th century. Cole's work is known for its romantic portrayal of the American wilderness.
Born in Bolton le Moors, Lancashire, in 1801, Cole's family emigrated to the United States in 1818, settling in Steubenville, Ohio. At the age of twenty-two Cole moved to Philadelphia, and later, in 1825, to New York City with his family.
Cole found work early on as an engraver. He was largely self-taught as a painter, relying on books and by studying the work of other artists. In 1822 Cole started working as a portrait painter, and later on gradually shifted his focus to landscape.
In New York, Cole sold five paintings to George W. Bruen, who financed a summer trip to the Hudson Valley where the artist produced landscapes featuring the Catskill Mountain House, the famous Kaaterskill Falls, the ruins of Fort Putnam, and two views of Cold Spring. Returning to New York, he displayed five landscapes in the window of William Colman's bookstore; according to the New York Evening Post the two views of Cold Spring were purchased by Mr. A. Seton, who lent them to the American Academy of the Fine Arts annual exhibition in 1826. This garnered Cole the attention of John Trumbull, Asher B. Durand, and William Dunlap. Among the paintings was a landscape called View of Fort Ticonderoga from Gelyna. Trumbull was especially impressed with the work of the young artist and sought him out, bought one of his paintings, and put him into contact with a number of his wealthy friends including Robert Gilmor of Baltimore and Daniel Wadsworth of Hartford, who became important patrons of the artist.
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