At the outset of his career, Thomas Cole, considered the founder of North American landscape painting, produced picturesque views of the Hudson River. Expulsion. Moon and Firelight marks a shift of direction towards an allegorical type of landscape. The central motif is a bridge suspended over a great drop, which the artist saw in the White Mountains in New Hampshire in 1827. Starting with this element, Cole made use of his imagination to create the setting for the Expulsion of Adam and Eve (neither of whom are actually present). The composition is symmetrically structured around the cross shape created by the waterfall and bridge. On the right is Paradise and on the left the world after the Fall. The pronounced contrast between the glowing light inside the arch and the shadow around it emphasises the sublime character of the scene. Cole feared the effects of the rapid industrialisation of the United States and here depicts the North American landscape as a metaphor of Eden.

JAL

19th Century19th Century. North American Painting. Hudson River SchoolPaintingOilcanvas
Download image Print page

Tours to find it

Related content

Research project American Art from the Thyssen Collection. 2021-2022

More from the collection