Sunset, View on the Catskill is an 1833 oil-on-wood painting by English-born American painter Thomas Cole. It is currently owned by the New-York Historical Society.

Description The work is in oval format and depicts a view of North Mountain from Catskill Creek.

Artist's background

Tom Christopher wrote that "[Thomas] Cole’s greatest artistic asset proved to be his untutored eye."Christopher, Living Off the Landscape, 1. Cole emigrated to America with his family in the spring of 1819 at the age of eighteen.Noble, The Life and Works of Thomas Cole, 6. As a child, his surroundings were of Lancashire, England, an area known to be an epicenter of Britain’s primarily industrial region. Because of this, Cole was granted an additional clarity of and sensitivity to the vibrancy of American landscapes awash with color, a stark contrast to the bleak and subdued landscapes of the country he left behind.Great Northern Catskills of Greene County. “Hudson River School of Art,” 1.

History Cole created the work for New York merchant Luman Reed. After a trip through Europe, Cole was inspired by 16th-century painter Claude Lorrain. Consequently, the Claudean influence is clearly seen in this painting.

See also List of paintings by Thomas Cole

References

Works cited Christopher, Tom. "Living Off the Landscape: How Thomas Cole and Frederick Church made Themselves at Home in the Hudson River Valley." Humanities 30, no. 4 (2009):6-11.

Noble, Luis Legrand. The Life and Works of Thomas Cole. Edited by Elliot S. Vesell Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1964. Great Northern Catskills of Greene County. “Hudson River School of Art”. http://www.greatnortherncatskills.com/arts-culture/hudson-river-school-art.

External links Explore Thomas Cole provided by the National Park Service