Circles of Influence: Thomas Cole and the American Landscape Movement

CATSKILL―The Thomas Cole National Historic Site has announced the exhibition “Circles of Influence: Thomas Cole and the American Landscape Movement.” The exhibition will explore the rapid influence that Thomas Cole (1801- 1848) and his work had on other 19th -century artists, and the role that they collectively played in extending the concept of “America the Beautiful,” still vibrant today.

The exhibition brings together the work of Cole with artists he was in direct contact with, including Frederic Edwin Church, Jasper Francis Cropsey, and Asher B. Durand; artist-members of the Cole family, including Sarah Cole and Mary B. Cole; and later painters who were shaped by his legacy and considered part of the artistic movement Cole founded, such as Ralph Albert Blakelock, Albert Bierstadt, Susie M. Barstow, John Frederick Kensett, Mary Josephine Walters, and Worthington Whittredge.

The exhibition will be presented in the historic Library Gallery designed by Cole in the 1815 Main House where he lived from 1836 until his death in 1848. The gallery features an original decorative wall painting by Cole.

The exhibition will run from June 20 through December 2026.

The exhibition brings to the public major works from private collections, including Cole’s iconic painting, Catskill Mountain House, 1846, from the Warner Foundation Collection. The collection was assembled by the late pioneer collector and appreciator of American Art, Jack Warner (1917- 2017). The Warner Foundation Collection is also lending significant works by Albert Bierstadt and Worthington Whittredge. Susan Austin Warner is lending from her private collection works by Church, Cropsey, and John Frederick Kensett. The exhibition also includes a distinctive work by Cole, Distant View of Boston, c. 1838-39, from the Collection of J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox.

“Made possible by the generosity of lenders, this exhibition honors the rich history of the home—marking the first time since the Cole Site opened to the public that an exhibition of Hudson River School works is presented in the space that Cole designed within his home to display landscape paintings,” said Amanda Malmstrom, associate curator of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.

“The salon-style installation brings to light the diversity of artists associated with the major landscape movement sparked by Thomas Cole, and the intertwined complexity of their artistic exchanges. We hope visitors embrace this opportunity for reflection, a moment to reckon with the history of American national identity and the role art played (and continues to play) in shaping and disseminating it,” Malmstrom said.

The exhibition is part of a broader initiative of the Thomas Cole Site titled “Thomas Cole: Painting the Nature of America.” This year, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, is an appropriate time to recall the pivotal role that Cole played in creating the visual identity of the young nation. From October 26 to November 4, 1825, the display of three paintings by Cole―in the windows of Colman’s bookstore on Broadway near Fulton Street in Manhattan―changed the course of American art. The three paintings became an immediate success when purchased by renowned painters John Trumbull and William Dunlap and engraver Asher Durand. The display launched Cole’s career and gave birth to what is now known as the Hudson River School of landscape painting.

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is located at 218 Spring Street in Catskill. For more information, visit https://thomascole.org.