Thomas Cole And His Views

The paintings of Thomas Cole, the father of the Hudson River School of landscape painting, provided us with wonderful views of the Hudson Valley, Catskills, New England and imaginary landscapes.  Cole’s paintings and his writings also provided us with his views about the changes being wrought by “unbridled” development in America. Both of Cole's views were explored in a presentation given by Barry Ross in October 2021.

Cole and his family emigrated from England to America in 1818 when he was 17. In 1825, Cole arrived in New York City and soon set out exploring and sketching in the Hudson Valley and Catskills for the paintings that would lead to the establishment of the Hudson River School of landscape painting.

In his presentation Mr. Ross took us – via a score of Cole’s works – from the Hudson Highlands to the Catskill Mountains. Cole’s works had two key elements…Beauty and the Sublime. Beauty was shown by an inviting landscape in which man and nature lived together in harmony. Sublime was represented by a fearsome landscape - an impending storm, or a gnarled tree with broken branches and exposed roots.

Cole’s view on the dangers posed by the “axe” and the “improvements” being made to the landscape of America was presented most forcibly in his 1835 “Essay on American Scenery” and can be summed up with its closing passage:  

“Nature has spread for us a rich and delightful banquet. Shall we turn from it? We are still in Eden; the wall that shuts us out of the garden is our own ignorance and folly. “

In his presentation, Mr. Ross also guided us on a Hudson River cruise through the Highlands – courtesy of several paintings by other Hudson River School painters.