Cole

Thomas Cole was a wonderful artist. He founded the Hudson River School. He was born in 1801 at Bolton, Lancashire in northwestern

England

. He left

England

and moved to the

United States

in 1818 with his family. He had a life long friend, whose name was Asher B. Durand, also a member of Hudson River School.

He rented a small building near his house, Cedar Grove, in Catskill, NY, that was known as the Old Studio. Cole was most noted for his landscape paintings.

A man named Luman Reed became his patron, who provided him with money to continue his work. Reed was a successful local merchant who moved to NY City where he had his own private art gallery. Unfortunately, Reed died in1836.

During the winter of 1835-36, Cole produced one of his most popular series of paintings, "The Course of Empire." He began to have strong ideas about industrial development and its negative effect on the wild beauty of the Catskill landscapes, the source of ideas for his work. He was particularly upset by the growth of the railroads.