Introduction
Analyzing Thomas Cole's Painting, Landscape (Landscape with Tree Trunks)
Welcome to the RISD Museum in Providence, RI. This museum preserves and showcases art representing diverse cultures from ancient times to the present. Learn from various objects in the museum's collection about artists' work and processes, as well as how pieces invoke social change in the present.
RISD Museum Entrance in Providence, RI
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MJ Robinson:
Hi everyone, my name is MJ and I'm an educator at the RISD Museum in Providence, Rhode Island. Pendleton House is a building in the RISD Museum that looks like a fancy early American house. It's made up of different rooms you can explore that have artworks and furniture from the 1800s. In this hallway I want to take a close look at a painting that expresses one European American artist's ideas and perspectives about the changing American landscape in the 1800s.
This painting is by an English American artist named Thomas Cole who painted it in 1828, almost 200 years ago, and 10 years after he immigrated from England with his family. At that time, most of the east coast of the United States was inhabited by people of European heritage who were changing the environment through farming and industry to suit their way of life.
In this lesson, you will synthesize your insights about Thomas Cole's painting by writing a museum label for his work Landscape (Landscape with Tree Trunks) and explore more perspectives by researching and reflecting on objects of your choice by Native American artists.
