Thomas Cole (1801–1848)
Olje på lerret, 100,3 x 161,2 cm, New York Historical Society.

Thomas Cole var født i England, men familien emigrerte til Amerika i 1818. Det berettes at han tidlig arbeidet som gravør, men som kunstner var han for det meste selvlært. Han er kjent som grunnlegger av The Hudson River School, en gruppe amerikanske landskapsmalere på midten av 1800-tallet.

The Course of Empire – en serie på fem bilder malt i årene 1833–36, er inspirert av idéer som den gang var ganske populære, nemlig at sivilisasjoner alltid endte opp med elendigheter, og at mennesker var best tjent med et pastoralt samfunn. Dette bør vi se i sammenheng med mytene om det harmoniske gjetersamfunnet Arkadia i Hellas – som var kjent og utbredt allerede i den klassiske antikken.

Kunstneren har skrevet ledsagende tekster til alle de fem bildene, som vi skal presentere som Dagens motiv denne uken.

No. 1., which may be called the ‘Savage State,’ or ‘the Commencement of Empire,’ represents a wild scene of rocks, mountains, woods, and a bay of the ocean. The sun is rising from the sea, and the stormy clouds of night are dissipating before his rays. On the farthest side of the bay rises a precipitous hill, crowned by a singular isolated rock, which, to the mariner, would ever be a striking land-mark. As the same locality is represented in each picture of the series, this rock identifies it, although the observer’s situation varies in the several pictures. The chase being the most characteristic occupation of savage life, in the fore-ground we see a man attired in skins, in pursuit of a deer, which, stricken by his arrow, is bounding down a water-course. On the rocks in the middle ground are to be seen savages, with dogs, in pursuit of deer. On the water below may be seen several canoes, and on the promontory beyond, are several huts, and a number of figures dancing round a fire. In this picture, we have the first rudiments of society. Men are banded together for mutual aid in the chase, etc. The useful arts have commenced in the construction of canoes, huts, and weapons. Two of the fine arts, music and poetry, have their germs, as we may suppose, in the singing which usually accompanies the dance of savages. The empire is asserted, although to a limited degree, over sea, land, and the animal kingdom. The season represented is Spring.