Use of the Art of Nation Natural Beauty and Landscape Shows - Admission/Application Essay Example

Visual art and Film study Biography of Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was born in the year 1801 in Bolton, at a place knownLancashire which is Northwest of England. In 1818 he migrated with his family to the United States of America. During his early years, he lived at Philadelphia, Ohio and Pittsburgh where he was employed as an itinerant picture artist. Although he was self-taught, he worked with Philadelphia academy members. In the academic exhibition, his covers were also included. When at New York City, Thomas Cole discovered the cat’s wilderness hunting beauty hence Catskill small panting landscape attracted the attention of very important people in New York City among them was Asher B. Durand who has been his friend for long. Thomas’ fame continued to spread across the country by then. While still on his twenties, he was made a fellow of the National academy. Cole then returned to Britain to attend to a family business and to study in between the year 1829 and 1831. He also traveled to Germany and France. These years of traveling enabled Cole to meet with some prominent persons who were traveling to abroad hence increasing his fame, status and reputation. In November 1832, Cole went back to New York City to mount a display of his Europe painting that really attracted a good number of people in New York. Cole then rented a small building and started his Catskill studio that was at Cedar Grove which is now Thomas Cole national cite. This period is when Cole came to know Luman Reed who opened a personal art Gallery in the New York City. Reed became Cole’s patron; this was when Cole produced one of his best series of arts that attracted the attention of most people. The series of painting was known as ‘The Course of Empire’. In the period of 1835-1836, Cole realized how industrialization was really contributing in destruction of the beautiful vegetation of the nation and this really inspired him. Both Cole’s patron and his Father died in 1836. During this sorrowful year, there was also happiness as Cole married Maria Bartow at Cedar Grove which finally became Thomas Cole’s home. In 1893, a painting known as ’The Voyage of Life’ was produced for Samuel Ward at a price of $ 5000 but on November 1840 left without completing his commission. Cole again went back to England in 1841, the year in which he painted the second ‘Voyage of Life’ while in Italy which he then shipped to New York City and in July 1842 he returned to New York City. On return to New York City, Cole became a member of Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Catskill by accepting to receive baptism, conformation and communion. In February 1843, a number of Cole’s letters and poems were published in New York magazine and paper. In February 1846, ‘The Cross and the World’ series of painting was started and during the same period, he build the seconds studio which was some few distance from his main house. This building pleased Cole and he named it ‘The New Studio’ and showed it off to most visitors. Thomas Cole died on Friday, February 11th 1848 at 8 pm; his funeral was then held at Saints Luke Church and was buried ¼ mile from the Cedar Grove on 15th Friday. Cole’s body was later transferred to the Thomson Street Cemetery to allow easy access by his friends so as to pay the last respect (National Park Service, pp. 28). The Oxbow (1836) Description Observations that can be made in the painting are; a dark wilderness with rugged cliffs in the fore front enclosed in the left with violet rain clouds and shattered trees’ trunks and at the right peaceful light- filled cultivated landscape which is bordering the harmony of the Connecticut River. On the far background of the hill the forest logging scar can be seen which by the look appears to form Hebrew letters. If the painting is observed upside-down, the word shaddai is formed (Wolf & Walter, pp. 156). Formal analysis The painting of the view from the aerial view shows as if it was experienced over the time, with threatening storm thundering across the landscape. On the right side is the Arcadia that Thomas Cole described as a peaceful place with shed tress, tidy farms and meandering river that enriches the soil. The unique characteristic of this quiet place is the river elegant bend into a U- shape that indicates an oxbow, symbolizing the nature being controlled by human. The seen is placed immediately after the storm when the skies are filled with golden light as they clear. Moreover, the left side of the painting shows a mountain wilderness still on hold of the heavy shower. The landscape is dark and has heavy skies and a threatening flash of lightning. The annoying trunk of the ancient forest appears not to be related with the useful trees across the valley below that are scattered. The two realms are connected in a way but of significant detail: the white and red umbrella diagonally inclined from the sides of the mountain creates an image of a bridge across the river. Below the painting is the signature of Thomas Cole. In the painting, a tiny figure that appears to be the artist is seen a few meters away; that is in a flat crowded hat that nestle in to the trees and rocks. Even if it divides the farmland, it indicates the human population. The only person visible in this painting is Cole and the sunshade has been planted like a flag to indicate the wilderness is his own territory. It is not easy to know if Thomas Cole believed but it seems he admired the landscape prepared and cultivated by the hands of a man. He also recognizes that the American landscape vegetation which is of moral importance to the Americans was destroyed by the industrialization. Beyond the oxbow on the hill side, a message was left by Cole: generally inside the Hebrew letter hides the word Noah and the upside down cord spell out Shaddai, the Almighty. By use of words like; almighty and Noah, does Cole indicate that the landscape he defined was a holy place that revealed Gods words? If that is the case then any person that goes there will be a sacrilege? On the other hand, Cole’s subdivision of landscape shows that civilization sends away the dangers and disorders inborn on the natural world. Sometime Cole’s ambivalence was embodied in the painting itself. May be the painting was produce mainly for public display only and not for material gain: exploitation through use of art of nation natural beauty (Costache, pp. 28). Interpretation The area painted by Cole was the main area that people used to visit frequently in the country. Cole was worried that the natural beauty of the area would be ruined by the visitors. Panting the area will enable people to appreciate its beauty and prevent further destruction of the place (Kastner, pp. 30-32). The Course of Empire Description The fourth painting of the course of empire, Destruction, is related to the third, but here the artist expanded to allow the action scene and move almost to the river center. The action is the distraction and the sack of the city in the course of the thunderstorm seen in the distance. It is seen that the city defense has been overthrown by the enemy warriors. These enemies have made it to the city through the river and efficiently setting a blaze the city and killing the people living in that town. The bridge in which the enemies used was broken, columns destroyed, and on the river bank and the palace upper floor, there was a fire that broke out. On the fore ground is a beheaded statue of a hero (Faherty, pp. 110). Formal analysis The first painting shows a hunter covered on skins moving through the wilderness searching for a deer and canoes moving up the river. At the far end of the show a group of wigwag around the fire can be seen. The visual locations are those of Native American life. The second painting, The Pastoral State, is on the bright morning of the day. The crag is now on the left side of the painting an indication that the view point has now shifted towards the river. From a distance beyond a forked peak much of the painting can be seen and is now on a settled land with lawn and plowed visibility. Various activities go on the back ground; herding sheep, plowing, boat building and dancing. In the foreground of the painting, there is an old man who is sketching something on the ground that seems to be a geographical problem. The third painting’s viewpoint shifts to the opposite shore, which is almost first painting size of clearing. Colonnaded marbles structure now covers both sides of the river which is a step to the water run down. The river bank seems to have been dominated by the megalithic temples which has transformed into a huge dome structure. The river mouth seems to be protected by two pharoses. The fourth painting, the scene was recommended by Vandal Sack of Rome in 455. A possible home destruction was seen in Troy film 2004 when Achilles cuts out the head of a statue during the ravishing of an attractive imperial city. The fifth painting shows the result a year later. Here the vegetation is growing and no mankind is seen around it changes to wilderness. The shattered bridge arches and the temples columns are still visible. The first painting sunrise is mirrored here (Le, Roy, pp. 35). Interpretation In this scripture, the time of the day hides down and the season is spring as the sun rises above the bay on the left. Thomas Cole uses the passage of seasons and time as a way to combine the five pictures into one. Therefore the second painting represents early summer and morning, the third early autumn and mid day, the fourth mid-autumn and afternoon and finally the last painting, dusk and autumn end. Cole wants to illustrate that the shifting of years of the seasons and the daily journey of the sun is in line with the longer progression of human history and life. Work Cited Costache, Irina D. The Art of Understanding Art: A Behind the Scenes Story. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Internet resource. Faherty, Duncan. Remodeling the Nation: The Architecture of American Identity, 1776-1858. Lebanon: University press of New England, 2007. Print. Kastner, Carolyn. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: An American Modernist. , 2013. Internet resource. Le, Roy F. Tickle Your Catastrophe!: Imagining Catastrophe in Art, Architecture and Philosophy. Gent: Academia Press, 2011. Print. National Park Service. Thomas Cole National Historic Site Draft General Management Plan/Environmental Assessment. Boston: DIANE Publishing, 2004. Print Wolf, Werner, and Walter Bernhart. Description in Literature and Other Media. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007. Print. Read More