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Thomas Cole

Born: Bolton-le-Moor, Lancashire, England, 1 February 1801
Died: Catskill, NY, 11 February 1848
Nationality: Anglo-American
Background: 

middle class

Studies: 

largely self-taught

Career: 

1825 – first exhibits landscapes; attracts attention of John Trumbull

1833 – begins work on The Course of Empire

1836 – The Course of Empire exhibited in New York

1839 – begins work on The Voyage of Life; series engraved by the American Art-Union for mass sale

Travels

England and Italy (1829-32; 1841-42)

Commissions from: 

Daniel Wadsworth, Luman Reed, Samuel Ward

Important Artworks: 

The Course of Empire, 1833-36 (New York Historical Society, New York)

Oxbow on the Connecticut River, 1836 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

The Voyage of Life, 1839-40 (Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY, second version, 1841-42, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC) ( Childhood,Youth,  Manhood, Old Age)

Web Resources

Metmuseum: Thomas Cole

smarthistory: Cole, The Oxbow