Clouds

Thomas Cole American

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 759

A keen observer of skies and weather conditions, Cole sketched and painted clouds throughout his career. These atmospheric effects play a central role in almost all his landscape compositions. Cole encountered oil sketches by British artists, including John Constable and J. M. W. Turner, during his travels in Europe from 1829 to 1832. He then embraced a similar outdoor painting practice. This study of a towering cloud formation in shades of gray, purple, and pure white was produced rapidly on the spot and displays palpable brushstrokes suggesting the immediacy of the artist’s perception.

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Clouds, Thomas Cole (American, Lancashire 1801–1848 Catskill, New York), Oil on paper laid down on canvas, American

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