Visual And Textual Analysis Of Thomas Cole: The Oxbow
John Neal
Dr. Dell’Aria
Visual and Textual Analysis Essay
Art 188
October 19, 2017
Thomas Cole: The Oxbow
The great American frontier, long depicted as a harsh and ruthless place over and over again for hundreds of years. Thomas Cole depicts the very beginning stages of this legendary story of expansion in 1832 in his piece titled The Oxbow. Cole argues through this piece and through his Essay on American Scenery that indeed American scenery is just as great as that of Europe if not better due to its untouched Beauty.
In the painting we see a very clear argument Cole the artist is trying to convey. A very distinct line down the middle of the scene creates a clear border between the untouched wilderness that Cole and his Hudson River School are known for. On the other side of the border lays clear skies with farmland and developed land, which gives the notion that a storm is either coming or subsiding as the wilderness part of the piece is drenched by storm. The actual light of the piece appears to have minimal effect. Implied …show more content…
But he really does do a great job giving the viewer a feeling for the mountain and the view and I could actually picture the view again just like when I visited Mt Holyoke 8 years ago. Apart from the town the surrounding area does give off the frontier type feeling in comparison to the city life I am accustomed to.
Cole’s argument in his essay that the value of these untouched lands is equal to the beauties of developed Europe and its architecture pours into the piece as he really shows both the beauty of the perfect farmlands of the Americas along with the scary beauty displayed by the untouched wilderness which is like a whole new world to the people of the already overpopulated Europe. He really defines the American landscape as a well-knit mixture of developed land and the great nature of
Dr. Dell’Aria
Visual and Textual Analysis Essay
Art 188
October 19, 2017
Thomas Cole: The Oxbow
The great American frontier, long depicted as a harsh and ruthless place over and over again for hundreds of years. Thomas Cole depicts the very beginning stages of this legendary story of expansion in 1832 in his piece titled The Oxbow. Cole argues through this piece and through his Essay on American Scenery that indeed American scenery is just as great as that of Europe if not better due to its untouched Beauty.
In the painting we see a very clear argument Cole the artist is trying to convey. A very distinct line down the middle of the scene creates a clear border between the untouched wilderness that Cole and his Hudson River School are known for. On the other side of the border lays clear skies with farmland and developed land, which gives the notion that a storm is either coming or subsiding as the wilderness part of the piece is drenched by storm. The actual light of the piece appears to have minimal effect. Implied …show more content…
But he really does do a great job giving the viewer a feeling for the mountain and the view and I could actually picture the view again just like when I visited Mt Holyoke 8 years ago. Apart from the town the surrounding area does give off the frontier type feeling in comparison to the city life I am accustomed to.
Cole’s argument in his essay that the value of these untouched lands is equal to the beauties of developed Europe and its architecture pours into the piece as he really shows both the beauty of the perfect farmlands of the Americas along with the scary beauty displayed by the untouched wilderness which is like a whole new world to the people of the already overpopulated Europe. He really defines the American landscape as a well-knit mixture of developed land and the great nature of