Thomas Cole (born February 1, 1801 – died February 11, 1848) – American artist of British origin, an outstanding master of the landscape genre of the early 19th century. He is rightfully considered the founder of the Hudson River School – the largest association of painters in the United States – adherents of the romantic style in art. The central theme of his work has always been the wild nature of America, although the legacy of the great master also includes beautiful allegorical paintings. The biography of the artist is full of interesting events and high-profile achievements.

Thomas Cole, in addition to painting, was also interested in architecture and for many years was active in literature. His poems and philosophical essays were successfully published in American magazines, and among the artist’s close friends were many famous writers, including James Fenimore Cooper.

Biography of Thomas Cole

Thomas Cole was born in the small town of Bolton-le-Moors in northwest England on February 1, 1801, into a poor family. From an early age, he combined his schooling with work, first getting a job as an engraver’s assistant in a workshop, and then as an apprentice designer of calico prints. At the age of seventeen, the young man and his family emigrated to the United States and settled in Steubenville, Ohio. Soon, with the help of a traveling artist named Stein, he learned the basics of painting and firmly decided to devote his life to art.

To realize his dream, Cole went to Pittsburgh in 1823, where he began to paint. At first, he tried his hand at portraiture, but soon switched to painting landscapes. That same year, the young artist moved to Philadelphia, where he was accepted to study at the local Academy of Fine Arts, but the newly minted student was never able to complete his course of study.

In April 1825, Thomas Cole moved to New York with his family, and in the summer he took a long trip along the Hudson River, which became fateful for him. During the trip, he made many landscape sketches, and then, upon returning to the city, he painted several paintings, which he exhibited in the window of William Coleman’s bookstore in October of the same year.

The works of the gifted artist aroused great interest not only among the general public, but also among many masters of fine art. Three of Cole’s landscapes were purchased by famous American artists John Trumbull, Asher Durand and William Dunlap, and two more works were presented at an exhibition of the Academy of Arts in the spring of the following year. In addition, Trumbull was so impressed by Cole’s talent that he sought out the author and introduced him to his wealthy friends and patrons of the arts, many of whom became patrons of the young artist for many years.

It is the presentation of Cole’s first works in October 1825 that is considered to be the beginning of the Hudson River School. Although this movement was never officially formed, Thomas Cole managed to quickly unite a group of like-minded people who were united by the desire to devote themselves to the glorification of the beauty of American nature.

Having achieved his first successes, Cole did not even think of resting on his laurels of fame, although the number of customers was rapidly growing. In 1829, he went on a long journey through Europe to study in detail the work of the old masters. First, he visited England, where he met the recognized masters of British painting William Turner and John Constable, and then lived in Italy for several years, mainly in Rome and Florence.

Returning to the United States in 1832, Thomas Cole continued to create American landscapes, but new allegorical motifs appeared in his style of painting. They were most vividly manifested in the famous series “The Path of Empire”. In 1836, the artist married Maria Bartow, who became the mother of his five children. The master’s marriage was happy, the spouses loved and respected each other, after the wedding they settled in the town of Catskill, where they led a quiet, measured life.

In 1841-42, Cole made a second trip to Europe. This time, the greatest impression on him was a visit to the island of Sicily and the active volcano Etna. The artist dedicated several paintings to this event. Upon returning from the trip, Cole, at the request of one of his patrons, Daniel Wadsworth, took Frederic Edwin Church as a student, who later became a famous American artist.

At the peak of his popularity, Thomas Cole did not stop working a lot. In total, he left descendants several hundred paintings and more than 2,500 sketches depicting nature. But in the prime of his creative powers, the recognized master of American painting died suddenly of pleurisy on February 11, 1848. At the time of his death, he was barely 47 years old.