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  • Falls of the Kaaterskill
  •  
  • The Clove, Catskills
  •  
  • The Course of Empire: The Savage State
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  • The Course of Empire: The Arcadian or Pastoral State
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  • The Course of Empire: The Consummation of Empire
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  • The Course of Empire: Destruction
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  • The Course of Empire: Desolation
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  • View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, After A Thunderstorm (The Oxbow)
  •  
  • View on the Catskill, Early Autumn
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  • The Voyage of Life: Childhood (First Set)
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  • The Voyage of Life: Youth (First Set)
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  • The Voyage of Life: Manhood (First Set)
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  • The Voyage of Life: Old Age (First Set)
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  • The Architect's Dream
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  • Mount Etna From Taormina, Sicily
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  • A View of the Two Lakes and Mountain House, Catskill Mountains, Morning
  •  
  • Kindred Spirits

The Course of Empire: Desolation

Thomas Cole. Oil on canvas, 1836, 39 ½ x 63 ½ in. Collection of The New-York Historical Society, 1858.5.

About the Series:

The Course of Empire

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Process

This drawing from Cole's sketchbook shows his interest in the theme of human and natural history, a theme he explored throughout The Course of Empire. The composition of Ruins, or the Effects of Time is very similar to Desolation, and appears to be an early study for the finished work. Desolation contains the same prominent column as in this drawing, but in the painting it is covered with vines, added to symbolize nature in the process of reclaiming civilization. Noticeably absent from Desolation are the "remains of a human skeleton seen in an uncovered sarcophagus,"  1  which Cole noted in his description of the drawing and which can be seen in the sketch's foreground. In the final painting, any depiction of human remains has been eliminated in favor of woodland animals, which roam through the ruins. Cole apparently wanted to mute human tragedy in Desolation in order to emphasize the haunting beauty of nature's return. 2 

Works

1. Thomas Cole, <cite>Ruins, or the Effects of Time</cite>, pencil on paper, c. 1832-3, 15 &frac12; x 9 &frac14; in. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founder’s Society Purchase, William H. Murphy Fund, 39.559.43. View in Virtual Gallery

2. Thomas Cole, <cite>The Course of Empire: Desolation</cite>, oil on canvas, 1836, 39 &frac12; x 63 &frac12; in. Collection of The New-York Historical Society, 1858.5.

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