Thomas Cole's 1826 'Kaaterskill Falls' at Wadsworth Atheneum
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, showcases Thomas Cole's 1826 painting 'Kaaterskill Falls,' which played a key role in the rise of the Hudson River School. This artwork depicts a stunning 260-foot waterfall in Upstate New York, formed by glacial runoff 130,000 years ago. Created in his Cedar Grove studio, Cole shifted away from European portraiture styles like those of Gilbert Stuart and Rembrandt Peale, instead fostering an American style focused on the sublime. The scene portrays the view behind the falls, with water flowing into a creek, surrounded by colorful autumn trees. As the sun sets and clouds roll in, it echoes Edmund Burke's 1757 thoughts on the sublime. Cole, just 25, sought to create a new American art movement.
Key facts
- Thomas Cole painted 'Kaaterskill Falls' in 1826.
- The painting is on view at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut.
- Kaaterskill Falls is a 260-foot two-stage waterfall in Upstate New York.
- The waterfall formed 130,000 years ago during the middle Pleistocene.
- Cole painted the work at his Cedar Grove studio.
- The painting rejected the European-influenced portraiture of Gilbert Stuart and Rembrandt Peale.
- The scene includes Eastern Hemlocks, Northern Red Oaks, Sugar Maples, and American Beeches.
- Edmund Burke's 1757 'A Philosophical Enquiry' concept of the sublime influenced the work.
Entities
Artists
- Thomas Cole
- Gilbert Stuart
- Rembrandt Peale
Institutions
- Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
- Cedar Grove
Locations
- Kaaterskill Falls
- Upstate New York
- Catskills
- South Mountain
- Hartford
- Connecticut
- United States
- Lancashire
- England