For this Art Wednesday we’ll look at a fascinating series of paintings by the founder of the Hudson River School, the English-American landscape and history painter, Thomas Cole (1801-1848).
Portrait of Thomas Cole by Asher B. Durand, 1837
Cole was born in England and immigrated to the US with his parents when he was 17. His family settled in Ohio. When he was 24, he moved to Catskill, New York, where he lived the rest of his life.
Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire Installation Diagram, 1833
From 1833-1836, Cole painted a five-part series called “The Course of Empire,” focusing on cycles of civilization—the savage state, the pastoral state, consummation, destruction, and desolation.
Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire, Pt 1, The Savage State, 1836
The series “The Course of Empire” depicts the rise and fall of an imaginary city—starting with nothing, and then blossoming into a thriving place of grandeur and wealth, only to destroy itself.
Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire, Pt 2, The Pastoral State, 1836
The third painting in the series, Consummation, shows a great city occupying both sides of a bay. Wealth pours into the harbor. Cole said, “man has conquered man — nations have been subjugated.”
Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire, Pt 3, Consummation, 1835–1836
The fourth painting, Destruction, is from almost the same vantage point as Consummation, only now, instead of splendor, we see the horror of war. Enemy fleets fill the harbor as the city is ransacked.
Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire, Pt 4, Destruction, 1836
The series ends with Desolation—an unpeopled ruin with toppled columns and broken bridges overgrown with vines, the remnant of a kingdom no one would have imagined could ever fall. Cole said, “The gorgeous pageant has passed — the roar of battle has ceased — the multitude has sunk in the dust — the empire is extinct.” What an insightful series. Prophetic too, I suspect.
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