Thomas Cole The Oxbow Essay

Thomas Cole who was considered a renowned painter and father of the Hudson River School of art wrote “American Scenery.” Within this piece he expressed his overall feelings about America and the importance of the sublime nature that surrounds us. Although his paintings could relay a story within themselves, Cole felt the need to further educate those who would listen. Through his work and one of his many paintings titled “The Oxbow” Cole expresses his view on having a deeper consideration for the American scenery that surrounds us because that beauty is unfortunately ever changing and quickly passing away.
In the year of 1836 Thomas Cole settled in the village of Catskill and continued “in search of the picturesque.” To his enjoyment that is exactly what he found and as a result painted some of the most known landscape paintings of his time. Although he did not need to write such a piece as “American Scenery,” he did and for a reason. Cole mentions the sublime repeatedly throughout when talking about nature and the wilderness which he considered the scenery’s most impressive characteristic. The term …show more content…
This is depicted to the viewer by how dark and dreary the left side of the picture is. Although we can see that, the text states that we are the main cause of this problem. We are ruining forests for our personal needs such as fuel and tillage but mostly for roads and canals. If the result of this is what is being depicted on the right side of the painting, to me, it does not seem as harsh as he makes it in the text. The value of the land and water are still shown in a tranquil manner, which in no way gives off a sense of darkness. The point is that we are overall blind to the matter. Cole wants us to open up our eyes and see what was once beauty is now bear and through art come to the realization there is so much more in nature to