Nineteenth Century Painting: Thomas Cole, The Oxbow

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Thomas_Cole%2C_The_Oxbow.jpg

This painting was made in 1836 and it is of Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts. It was originally called: View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow. This painting depicts the vastness of the American landscape and of its natural beauty.

The right half of the painting shows the land has been cultivated and settled, with patches of fields and trees that have been planted. It also shows mountains in the distance which symbolise the various heights of America and shows a difference to Europe as there were not many mountains. This cultivated side of the landscape shows that America is an open land and that there are opportunities for growth, as crops and trees are growing. It almost romanticises America, which is also interesting as Cole was the founder of the Hudson River School art movement, which painted romanticised pictures of the American landscape. The pale blue sky shows that things are peaceful and again makes America appear to be very romantic. The distant mountains and hills in the background also show that America is the land of opportunity as it goes on for miles and miles. The river almost symbolises and predestines the journey that America has been on and the journey ahead, as well as the twists and turns that are represented by the oxbow. This is also an example of the idea of manifest destiny, where it was thought it was predestined that America would be great. However, as the river is calm and gently it falsely portrays this journey as it does not indicate the civil war or the massacres of the native peoples or the hardships of the great depression.

The left half on the painting shows a different side of America. The land is uncultivated, the trees look unruly and the sky is dark and it looks like a thunderstorm is about to start. This shows the ugly side of America and that everything is not what it seems despite the beauty of the right-hand side of the painting. Contrary to the right side, the left-hand side of the painting looks savage, a term that was used heavily to describe the native peoples. This shows what America was like before the settlers arrived and transformed the landscape, and also represents the native peoples before the Europeans arrived and drove them out. The left side also represents uncertainty, but with a glimmer of hope as there appears to be light coming in through the dark clouds. There is a circle of birds in this light which is reminiscent of the story of Noah and the Ark; this links to something that Thomas Paine said in 1776: “We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, has not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand”.

The two opposing sides of the painting look to show a “before and after” view, as well as a well-rounded view of America.