The Fountain of Vaucluse
The Fountain of Vaucluse, 1841
ArtistThomas Cole
Year1841
MediumOil on Canvas
Dimensions175.26 cm × 124.78 cm (69 in × 49.125 in)
LocationDallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

The Fountain of Vaucluse is an 1841 oil on canvas painting by British-American painter Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School. The work depicts the former home of Petrarch[1] in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, France.

Artist's background

Tom Christopher wrote that “[Thomas] Cole’s greatest artistic asset proved to be his untutored eye.”[2] Cole emigrated to America with his family in the spring of 1819 at the age of eighteen.[3] As a child, his surroundings were of Lancashire, England, an area known to be an epicenter of Britain’s primarily industrial region. Because of this, Cole was granted an additional clarity of and sensitivity to the vibrancy of American landscapes awash with color, a stark contrast to the bleak and subdued landscapes of the country he left behind.[4] From 1831 to 1832, Cole traversed Italy, where he encountered ruins.[5]

History

The work was painted during Cole's second trip to Europe. Cole altered the landscape: narrowing the canyon in order to make the setting more inspiring.[1]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 "The Fountain of Vaucluse". Dallas Museum of Art. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  2. ↑ Christopher, “Living Off the Landscape,” 1.
  3. ↑ Noble, The Life and Works of Thomas Cole, 6.
  4. ↑ Great Northern Catskills of Greene County. “Hudson River School of Art,” 1.
  5. ↑ "Thomas Cole". Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Retrieved August 21, 2020.

Works cited

  • Christopher, Tom. "Living Off the Landscape: How Thomas Cole and Frederick Church made Themselves at Home in the Hudson River Valley." Humanities 30, no. 4 (2009):6-11.
  • Noble, Luis Legrand. The Life and Works of Thomas Cole. Edited by Elliot S. Vesell Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1964.
  • Great Northern Catskills of Greene County. “Hudson River School of Art”. http://www.greatnortherncatskills.com/arts-culture/hudson-river-school-art.
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