Small wooden homes line the waterfront and wooden sailboats are out on the sea. An old man sits in the foreground drawing symbols or shapes, while a young child draws a soldier with a sword. Both bottom corners of the painting show tree stumps, where large trees were felled to create the houses and boats shown toward the center of the painting.
Full Answer
The Course of Empire comprises the following works: The Course of Empire – The Savage State; The Arcadian or Pastoral State; The Consummation of Empire; Destruction; and Desolation. All the paintings are oil on canvas, and all are 39.5 inches by 63.5 inches (100 cm by 161 cm) except The Consummation of Empire which is 51″ by 76″ (130 cm by 193 cm).
Portrait of Thomas Cole by Asher B. Durand, 1837. The Course of Empire is a series of five paintings created by Thomas Cole in the years 1833–1836.
The Course of Empire is a series of five paintings created by Thomas Cole in the years 1833–1836. It is notable in part for reflecting popular American sentiments of the times, when many saw pastoralism as the ideal phase of human civilization, fearing that empire would lead to gluttony and inevitable decay.
The theme of cycles is one that Cole returned to frequently, such as in his The Voyage of Life series. The Course of Empire comprises the following works: The Course of Empire – The Savage State; The Arcadian or Pastoral State; The Consummation of Empire; Destruction; and Desolation.
The five paintings were specifically designed for a prominent spot in Reed's third floor picture gallery in his New York City mansion at No. 13 Greenwich Street. See Cole's Installation Diagram for the Course of Empire .
Thomas ColeThe Course of Empire - Destruction / ArtistThomas Cole was an English-American painter known for his landscape and history paintings. He is regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School, an American art movement that flourished in the mid-19th century. Cole's work is known for its romantic portrayal of the American wilderness. Wikipedia
The Consummation of EmpireA detail in the lower right of the third painting in the series, "The Consummation of Empire", shows two children, maybe brothers, fighting, one clad in red and the other in green - the colours of banners of the two contending forces in "Destruction," which thus might depict a foreshadowed civil war.
The Course of Empire - The Consummation of the Empire The series, the Course of the Empire is thought to be a reflection on Cole's views on the towering industrial revolution felt in Cole's home country of England and to a larger extent, his adoptive country of America.
Thomas Cole's Course of Empire was a warning against the pride of empire building, and showcased the dreamy idealization of the pastoral life.
It is by Thomas Cole (February 1, 1801 – February 11, 1848), an English-born American artist who is regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School. Rome is collapsing in one giant cataclysm — drowning, suicide, homicide, every other-cide, fires, floods, and more.
Fall of the Roman Empire in painting: Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs, dating from the 4th century, produced in Asia Minor, today on a corner of Saint Mark's in Venice, next to the “Porta della Carta”. Photo by Nino Barbieri via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
Thomas Cole was an English-brought into the world American painter known for his landscape and history paintings. One of the major nineteenth-century American painters, he is viewed as the originator of the Hudson River School, an American art development that flourished in the mid-nineteenth century.