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Thomas Cole contd.docx
American Art (ARHI 3050)
University of Georgia
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Thomas Cole CONT’D
o Luman Reed, patron - Rose up from the lower class as a merchant, and became one of the wealthiest men in New York City. - Very active in supporting the visual arts in America, including Thomas Cole. Reed attempted to nurture the creation of a national artistic culture as sophisticated and accomplished as that of Europe. - Reed and Cole came up with a huge series of paintings known as The Course of Empire. o The Course of Empire (1834-1836*) - A five-part series of paintings reflecting popular American sentiments of the times, when many saw pastoralism as the ideal phase of human civilization, fearing that empire would lead to gluttony and inevitable decay. - The theme of cycles is also one that Cole returned to frequently. - “It seems to me that the moral principle of the nation is much lower than formerly – much less than vanity will allow.” – Cole, Journal 1835 - August 21, 1835: “There is no perfectibility in this world.” – pessimistic view of the individual and what was happening to the nation. - Even though Italy was the inspiration, “Rome, lone mother of all dead empires.” - Jeremiad – goes back to Puritan sermons, the idea of warning about oncoming trials and potential defeat. Rampant throughout American culture and literature. Cole gives the viewers a political Jeremiad – warning them. - There were 8 panels, three scenes of the sun were meant to be above the 5 main paintings. They suggest the rise and fall of civilization, as well as the rise of the sun, the sun at noon, and then the falling of the sun. - Each panel also depicts the seasons, early spring to winter. - Start at the top (savage state), down to pastoral state (Arcadia), culmination of empire, destruction of empire, desolation of empire. o The Course of Empire: The Savage State (1834-1836) - Cole first worked on this in Europe. Filled with literary influence, Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812-1818). - Believed that all panels should have a unique natural element that could change as we move from freedom to desolation. He wants the viewers to notice the changes in visual references as well as cycles. - Cole was very interested in science, more specifically, geology (a fad at the time). Charles Lyell came up with the idea of a geological process of change over time, not a catastrophic change. - This painting shows the valley from the shore opposite the crag, in the dim light of a dawning stormy day. The visual references are those of Native American life. This painting symbolizes the ideal state of the natural world. It is a healthy world, unchanged by mankind. Although it is a savage state, civilization still appears. - Trees are not calm Claudian trees, like his previous paintings. There are blasted trees, wild, hunter (transplanted from his image of expulsion), wolf feeding on deer, beginnings of transportation, village and fire, canoes. - This painting depicts the sublimity of nature and death – the awesome powers of nature’s forces. - Each painting has a type of light and dark – chiaroscuro. “Flashing chiaroscuro” Spring; “motion pervades” “Nature springing out of chaos” o The Course of Empire: Arcadia or The Pastoral State (1834-1836) - The sky has cleared and we are in the fresh morning of a day in early summer. The viewpoint has shifted further down the river, as the crag with the boulder is now on the left-hand side of the painting.
has overthrown the city’s defenses, sailed up the river, and is busily firing the city and killing and raping its inhabitants.
- The old philosopher figure can be seen sitting on top of a dead body – part of the cycle.
- The Borghese Warrior is in the foreground, but headless, showing that although he represents the hero, he is decapitated and destroyed.
- Dark red dominates the painting, adding to the destruction and violence of the scene.
- “The decline of nations is generally more rapid than their rise. Luxury has weakened and debased.”
- “Fierce chiaroscuro” end of autumn o The Course of Empire: Desolation of Empire (1834-1836)
- The fifth painting shows the results, years later. We view the remains of the city in the light of the dying day. The landscape has begun to return to wilderness, and no human beings are to be seen; but the remnants of their architecture can be seen, encroached my nature. This gloomy picture symbolizes what all empires could be after their fall. It is a harsh possible future in which humanity has been destroyed by its own hands.
- The face in the mountain has become prominent again.
- “Violence and time have crumbled the works of man, and art is again resolving into elemental nature. The gorgeous pageant has passes – the roar of battle has ceased – the multitude has sunk in the dust – the empire is extinct.”
- Comes back to Byron: “Thou nameless column with the buried base! Whose arch or pillar meets me in the face, Titus or Trajan’s? Not – this that of time!”
- The giant column acts almost as a finger warning us of what could happen.
- Evening and moonlight, “calm and silent chiaroscuro effect”
Thomas Cole contd.docx
Course: American Art (ARHI 3050)
University: University of Georgia
