Intro to Modern Art History
Cole. Thomas - Dream of Arcadia (1838)
Thomas Cole hated concrete. In 1838, as smoke choked American skies, he built a golden escape on canvas. He wanted...
Read more
Cole. Thomas - The Cross in the Wilderness (1846)
Thomas Cole looked at the empty American wilderness as a silent, lonely cathedral. Facing his own looming death, Cole painted...
Read more
Cole. Thomas - The Course of Empire: The Savage...
Thomas Cole shoved a mirror in the faces of wealthy New York elite in 1836. They wanted pretty backdrops. He...
Read more
Cole. Thomas - The Course of Empire: Destructio...
Thomas Cole painted a burning Rome in 1836 because he saw the rot starting in America. He watched the New...
Read more
Cole. Thomas - The Course of Empire: Desolation...
Thomas Cole painted ruins because he saw America eating itself alive. It was 1836 and expansion was raging. He used...
Read more
Cole. Thomas - The Course of Empire: The Consum...
Thomas Cole looked at the roaring success of 1836 America and painted a warning. He built an impossible marble empire...
Read more
Cole. Thomas - The Course of Empire: The Arcadi...
Thomas Cole saw Jacksonian America eating the continent alive. He did not paint a pretty landscape for wealthy elites to...
Read more
Cole. Thomas - Cascatelli, Tivoli, Looking Towa...
Thomas Cole traded Roman ruins for American freedom. He painted moody Italian landscapes because rich buyers back home craved dead...
Read more
Church, Frederic Edwin - Twilight in the Wilder...
In 1860 the United States was screaming toward a bloody crack-up. Frederic Edward Church looked at a Maine sunset and...
Read more
Church, Frederic Edwin - The Wreck (1855)
Frederic Edwin Church made a fortune painting cozy sunsets for wealthy empire-builders. Then he painted their worst nightmare. The Wreck...
Read more