Analysis Of The Painting Course Of Empire Destruction By Thomas Cole

I believe Cole purposely avoided the appearance of unity in this painting. The separation between the two landscapes was not a peaceful transition. He wanted to show the diversity between the natural land from the cultivated land.

Throughout each episode there is vivid pictures of ruins. This representation shows the mass destruction resulting from war, as well as the lasting effect on humanity.

In his work, Cole used the method of self-inserting himself into his paintings to get his point across. Cole's 'The Course of Empire' series consists of five parts: The Savage State, The Pastoral State, The Consummation of Empire, Destruction, and Desolation. I will begin by detailing the two main themes in his paintings that recur throughout the series: the

The front of the painting shows three African American men in the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Each of the men are doing something different. Near the three men, are factories blowing out smoke. In the lower right hand corner, a man is being held back and dragged down by what seems to be a hand made from the smoke, showing that he is still doing work that he does not want to do. Below him are cotton fields, where slaves used to have to work and do hard labor with little to no pay. The man on the bottom left side is shown to also have the hand by him, watching his moves. He is in a pose where he is frustrated and seems to have given up on his dreams. Closer to the center, higher up, stands a third man, playing a saxophone. Music can symbolize freedom and awakening. Along the outer edges of the painting, the colors are dark browns, reds, and oranges. As the focus is drawn closer to the center, lighter colors such as yellow. Darkness, as an archetype, represents despair and the unknown while lightness shows hope, renewal and intelligence. The goals of success, exuberancy, and harmony showed hope and renewal in change in

The other paintings in the series depict the course of an empire through states that include savagery, pastoral, consummation, destruction and desolation. The first painting in the series is savagery; this painting demonstrates a forest opposite the river in the middle of a raging storm and a view of wilderness from Cole’s perspective. The details within this piece of art include a hunter wearing skins as well as the encampment of Indians and their teepees. The hunter in the animal skins is representative of the survival strategies used by prehistoric people before the modern era. The encampment shows the being of society as a whole through the use of culture represented by Native

     The painting is very expressive as it shows the strength of the humanity and nature. The human is actually winning this battle with the horses. The dark colors also accompany this idea. The lighting is rather dim in this painting with a stormy sky above. The perspective is from floor level making the viewer look up in order to appreciate the full specter of this painting. The massive size of the painting proves that Regnault is trying to express power and

The background of the picture is dark. The artist paints the trees using dark colors and jagged lines to show how scary the moment was for the slaves. The slaves are walking through water that is also dark and filled with rocks and sharp sticks. The background gives the painting the emotion that bad things were happening at this time.

Aiding to the clarity with which he sees and appreciates the landscape and thus speaking out to the unobservant of nature's beauty, and the unconscious harmony of creation. Thomas Cole creates unity in his paintings through texture and the use of the hue green. The texture throughout is soft and created by the near non-existent brush strokes. The repetitive use of green within the painting creates a sense of nature and tranquillity in the scene. His painting does not have a specific focal point but by framing the painting with the trees – the vertical lines lead ones eye down to the grass area with the fence, those horizontal lines lead your eye to the woman standing on the hill, but then your eye is led u the vertical line of the left tree in the foreground to the horses running in the field in the middle ground, and so on until you see all the small hidden detail in the painting (the rowboat, fisherman, house and smoke coming out the

All the figures in the painting are more natural and has very little amount of rigid shapes. Organic shapes are found throughout the entire piece. The lions, stone background, and Daniel himself appear three dimensional. Colors and value vary throughout this piece. Hues in this painting are white, green, red, orange, and tones of brown.

The subject matter of the painting is Watson and the Shark which the painting is indicating. Watson is in the water with the shark. The boat is the center of attention because they are trying to save Watson while he is almost caught by the shark. The painting is a depiction of survival and never giving up until the final moment. The painting demonstrates how to survive they had to go through a series of obstacles which in this case was the sharks.

When observed, the first thing a person notices about this painting is the color blue. The color blue is used for both the sea and the sky and it gives the painting a refreshing feeling. The palm tree at the right side of the painting also contributes to this feeling of refreshment. The painting “Dawn of Christianity (Flight into Egypt)” also has many symbolisms.

The feel of the picture lends to emotions of unease and recognition of sexual innuendo. The colors of the painting are vibrant, but for the most part are dark. The heavy tones and shades of the colors are well balanced throughout the piece. It can be noted that the brightest shades of color are found on areas depicting the actual woman. In areas that are understood as landscape, the colors are more dreary and create a sense of instability. Even Hess observes that the

The type of color this painting utilizes is cool colors towards the back this helps make the painting seem peaceful and different. Towards the front we see warmer colors this is to draw some attention to the people and animals. Some of the primary colors we can see are red on the people‘s clothes green for the lush grass and trees and blue for the distant sky.

1.In the background of the painting, there is a woman standing by a cabinet that appears to be filled with textiles. This exhibits how women were able to assist in supporting their families by becoming spinners beginning a social change in the Late Middle Ages. The fact that she is in the background of the painting, behind the men, shows that women did not participate equally in labor and were very rarely at the forefront of society.

The primary colors of the painting are white, yellow, dark and gray, with the hint of brightness at the center of the