American (born in England)1801–1848
Thomas Cole
Born in England, he emigrated to the United States as a teenager and became the founding figure of the Hudson River School, painting the American wilderness as grand and untouched.
A life in paintings
- 1801Born
- 1829Was influenced by Joseph Mallord William TurnerLondon
On his first trip to England, from 1829, Cole visited Turner's studio. He admired the painter but was puzzled by the man, who looked nothing like his idea of an artist of international fame. The National Gallery counts Turner, with Constable, among the painters who influenced Cole most.
Source: National Gallery - 1836
- 1839Photography is announced
Daguerre’s process is made public in Paris. Painting no longer has to be the only way to record how things look.
Source: Wikipedia - 1841Paint in tubes
The collapsible metal paint tube is patented, making it practical to paint outdoors.
- 1844Taught Frederic Edwin ChurchCatskill, New York
Thomas Cole took the eighteen-year-old Frederic Church as his only formal pupil at Catskill in 1844 and taught him for two years; Church became the leading Hudson River School painter after Cole's death in 1848.
Source: Olana - 1848Died
Circles
Group · New York State · 1825
Hudson River School
American Romantic landscape painting. Thomas Cole is its founder figure; Frederic Church was his only formal pupil (1844-46).
Where to see them
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York
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