Born in England in 1801, Thomas Cole emigrated to the US, specifically Ohio, with his family when he was 17, and this is where he found the inspiration for his career. Thomas Cole taught himself and found inspiration in the nature and landscapes around him providing him with the content of his future pieces of work. Thomas Cole was born in 1801 in Bolton, Lancashire, England. His family emigrated to the United States, finally settling in Steubenville Ohio when he was 17. His first introduction to any of the arts was through wood engraving which he learned in England and continued in this vein of art by receiving rudimentary instruction from a traveling artist, Stein. After receiving a small amount of training, Cole went on to paint portraits
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While in Pennsylvania, he was exposed to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and started attending there in 1823, introducing painted landscapes to his portfolio of work as an artist. After studying there for two years, Thomas Cole joined his family in New York City in 1825. This is where his work really started to take off. Two of his more well known pieces depicted the Hudson River and the Catskills. By displaying his work in a bookstore, Cole's pieces started getting noticed and sold. Thanks to William Dunlap spreading the news of the new talent in town, Cole's work became quite popular. The New York City culture loved his romanticized view and representation of nature's landscapes, largely considered as the first important American landscape. By 1826, Thomas Cole was one of the founding members of the National Academy of …show more content…
He sketched his way through England and Italy and Paris. He remained in Italy for a year studying and scouring the art of Florence, Rome and Naples, whose influence can be seen in his piece “View near Tivoli (Morning)” and multiple others. Upon returning to New York City, Thomas Cole continued to excel in technical assurance, and he would return to Rome and Sicily in 1841. He was in the middle of multiple art movements during the peak of his career, such as Impressionism, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism, which somewhat influenced his work. Most of his work was influenced and categorized as Romanticism because of his glorified landscapes. Some of Cole's best works, such as The Course of Empire and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, were done after his return to New York, by request of his patrons. These works both show strong moral tendencies that contained themes of fantasy, and as a result were less popular than his more well-known landscapes. A sense of religion is seen in Cole's later work, especially in his four-part series The Voyage of Life, which portrays a human's journey through life to their eternal reward. Some speculate that this new element comes from his marriage happening around the same time as the publication of these works. He traveled again to Rome and Sicily before finally
While in Pennsylvania, he was exposed to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and started attending there in 1823, introducing painted landscapes to his portfolio of work as an artist. After studying there for two years, Thomas Cole joined his family in New York City in 1825. This is where his work really started to take off. Two of his more well known pieces depicted the Hudson River and the Catskills. By displaying his work in a bookstore, Cole's pieces started getting noticed and sold. Thanks to William Dunlap spreading the news of the new talent in town, Cole's work became quite popular. The New York City culture loved his romanticized view and representation of nature's landscapes, largely considered as the first important American landscape. By 1826, Thomas Cole was one of the founding members of the National Academy of …show more content…
He sketched his way through England and Italy and Paris. He remained in Italy for a year studying and scouring the art of Florence, Rome and Naples, whose influence can be seen in his piece “View near Tivoli (Morning)” and multiple others. Upon returning to New York City, Thomas Cole continued to excel in technical assurance, and he would return to Rome and Sicily in 1841. He was in the middle of multiple art movements during the peak of his career, such as Impressionism, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism, which somewhat influenced his work. Most of his work was influenced and categorized as Romanticism because of his glorified landscapes. Some of Cole's best works, such as The Course of Empire and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, were done after his return to New York, by request of his patrons. These works both show strong moral tendencies that contained themes of fantasy, and as a result were less popular than his more well-known landscapes. A sense of religion is seen in Cole's later work, especially in his four-part series The Voyage of Life, which portrays a human's journey through life to their eternal reward. Some speculate that this new element comes from his marriage happening around the same time as the publication of these works. He traveled again to Rome and Sicily before finally