American Painting and Sculpture

THOMAS COLE
(American, 1801-1848)

A Finished Study of a Tree, about 1844-46
Oil on panel mounted on auxiliary wood support
Museum purchase 1971.10

Born in England, Thomas Cole became one of the first artists to embrace the untamed and untouched American wilderness as a subject for his paintings. He often created sweeping compositions that conveyed the awe-inspiring power of nature. His landscapes became settings in which dramas unfolded, with a massive old tree or an architectural ruin playing the role of heroic protagonist. Although A Finished Study of a Tree is void of the moralizing or religious overtones of some of Cole’s larger compositions, the painting takes on portrait-like qualities, with the artist exactingly documenting the likeness of a grand oak tree carefully observed from nature.
Cole often made studies of trees or landscape elements, varying the degrees of finish according to their purpose. These works ranged from quick, abbreviated sketches to compositional studies in which he worked out ideas for larger paintings. The accuracy and carefully observed detail of A Finished Study of a Tree suggests that Cole created this painting as an independent work of art that he could sell to a collector, rather than as a sketch that would serve as a model for another painting.