21 Facts About Thomas Cole

Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement.

Thomas Cole was known for his romantic landscape and history paintings.

Thomas Cole's paintings are typically allegoric and often depict small figures or structures set against moody and evocative natural landscapes.

Thomas Cole was largely self-taught as a painter, relying on books and by studying the work of other artists.

In New York, Cole sold three paintings to George W Bruen, who subsequently financed a summer trip to the Hudson Valley where the artist produced landscapes featuring the Catskill Mountain House, the famous Kaaterskill Falls, the ruins of Fort Putnam, and two views of Cold Spring.

Eighty-nine of Thomas Cole's paintings were exhibited at the National Academy of Design between its founding in 1825 and Thomas Cole's death in 1848.

Thomas Cole was primarily a painter of landscapes, but he painted allegorical works.

Thomas Cole painted The Garden of Eden, with lavish detail of Adam and Eve living amid waterfalls, vivid plants, and deer.

Thomas Cole spent the years 1829 to 1832 and 1841 to 1842 abroad, mainly in England and Italy.

Thomas Cole is best known for his work as an American landscape artist.

Thomas Cole produced thousands of sketches of varying subject matter.

In 1842, Thomas Cole embarked on a Grand Tour of Europe in an effort to study in the style of the Old Masters and to paint its scenery.

Thomas Cole was so moved by the volcano's beauty that he produced several sketches and at least six paintings of it.

Thomas Cole produced a highly detailed sketch View of Mount Etna which shows a panoramic view of the volcano with the crumbling walls of the ancient Greek theater of Taormina on the far right.

Thomas Cole was a poet and dabbled in architecture, a not uncommon practice at the time when the profession was not so codified.

Thomas Cole was an entrant in the design competition held in 1838 to create the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.

Thomas Cole's entry won third place, and many contend that the finished building, a composite of the first, second, and third-place entries, bears a great similarity to Cole's entry.

Thomas Cole painted a significant portion of his work in this studio.

Thomas Cole's daughter Emily Cole was a botanical artist who worked in watercolor and painted porcelain.

Additionally, Thomas Cole held many friendships with important figures in the art world including Daniel Wadsworth, with whom he shared a close friendship.

Cedar Grove, known as the Thomas Cole House, was declared a National Historic Site in 1999 and is open to the public.