Thomas Cole: Eden to Empire

(Monday) (Sunday)

Discover one of America’s leading painters of the mid-19th century

With his work seldom seen outside the USA, this exhibition establishes British-born Thomas Cole (1801–1848) as a major global figure in 19th-century landscape art.

Displaying Cole’s paintings alongside those of his contemporaries, including Turner and Constable, the exhibition brings to light the dialogue between American and European artists of the mid-19th century.

The exhibition includes Cole’s monumental cycle of paintings ‘The Course of Empire’ (1833–36, New York Historical Society), and provides a vivid new context for Cole’s ‘The Oxbow’ (1836, The Metropolitan Museum of Art); a founding masterpiece of American landscape painting, never previously shown in the UK.

Ed Ruscha: Course of Empire runs concurrently with this exhibition in Room 1. 

Exhibition organised by the National Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Sponsored by White & Case





Exhibition supported by:





With additional support from Mme Alice Goldet

Image above: Detail from Thomas Cole, 'View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm – The Oxbow', 1836 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Selection of further exhibitions in:











Thomas Cole: Eden to Empire The National Gallery Main address: The National Gallery Trafalgar Square WC2N 5DN London, The National Gallery Trafalgar Square WC2N 5DN London, Discover one of America’s leading painters of the mid-19th century

With his work seldom seen outside the USA, this exhibition establishes British-born Thomas Cole (1801–1848) as a major global figure in 19th-century landscape art.

Displaying Cole’s paintings alongside those of his contemporaries, including Turner and Constable, the exhibition brings to light the dialogue between American and European artists of the mid-19th century.

The exhibition includes Cole’s monumental cycle of paintings ‘The Course of Empire’ (1833–36, New York Historical Society), and provides a vivid new context for Cole’s ‘The Oxbow’ (1836, The Metropolitan Museum of Art); a founding masterpiece of American landscape painting, never previously shown in the UK.

Ed Ruscha: Course of Empire runs concurrently with this exhibition in Room 1. 

Exhibition organised by the National Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Sponsored by White & Case





Exhibition supported by:





With additional support from Mme Alice Goldet

Image above: Detail from Thomas Cole, 'View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm – The Oxbow', 1836 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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