The American landscape painter Thomas Cole (1801–1848), the founder of the Hudson River School, was born in Northern England in 1801 when his native landscape, leafy and green, began to wither under the grimy dark soot of smokestacks and scarring by machines. When he was 17, he accompanied his family to America where he would live and thrive, most famously in the Hudson River Valley, and become a citizen. On this side of the Atlantic, he would again witness the beginning of the fall of Eden.
Largely taught by itinerant artists in America, Cole returned to England in 1829-31 to formally study art, taking classes in life drawing and studying the great works in museums. He studied the pastoral English landscapes of John Constable, especially the ruins of Hadleigh Castle, and the civilized French classical seasides of Claude Lorrain. He met the wild and wooly J.M.W. Turner in person but whose paintings struck him as a little too wild. Cole grew proficient in drawing, especially after taki…
Largely taught by itinerant artists in America, Cole returned to England in 1829-31 to formally study art, taking classes in life drawing and studying the great works in museums. He studied the pastoral English landscapes of John Constable, especially the ruins of Hadleigh Castle, and the civilized French classical seasides of Claude Lorrain. He met the wild and wooly J.M.W. Turner in person but whose paintings struck him as a little too wild. Cole grew proficient in drawing, especially after taki…