View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow
Thomas Cole American
Fascinated by the winding Connecticut River, Cole made the U-shaped bend known as the Oxbow the subject of this dramatic painting. He imbued the scene with the eerie glow that follows a thunderstorm. Cole juxtaposed stormy, untamed wilderness on the left with a sunlit, pastoral settlement on the right to emphasize the diverse possibilities of the American landscape. At the lower center the artist depicted himself, pausing from a sketch, gazing directly at the viewer.
"I think that [Cole] is calling out the fact that our way of developing—our way of improving the land or making it profitable—was pushing nature out, Indigenous people out." Xiye Bastida, climate activist, Audioguide 4026
#4344. View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow
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4344. View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow
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4026. View from Mount Holyoke
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