Shipwreck

Thomas Cole American
Not on view
This small graphite drawing is one of at least three with this title included in the same 1977 gift, all assumed to be products of a meeting of the Sketch Club, founded in 1827 by New York artists who gathered monthly to fashion individual compositions on an agreed-upon theme. In this Shipwreck, it is unsurprising that Cole, a landscapist who seldom painted marines, barely suggested the titular subject of the drawing in the vague smoke and skein of seabirds rising from the water in the distance and the possible presence of a lifeboat at right. More characteristically, he emphasized the terrestrial forms of boulder and tree in the foreground setting off the sea, which has long since swallowed the ill-fated vessel.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Shipwreck
  • Artist: Thomas Cole (American, Lancashire 1801–1848 Catskill, New York)
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Graphite on off-white wove paper
  • Dimensions: 4 5/8 x 6 3/8 in. (11.7 x 16.2 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Erving Wolf Foundation, in memory of Diane R. Wolf, 1977
  • Object Number: 1977.182.2
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.