Archive for posts tagged with ‘Pastoral State’


Mar 23 2011

The Course of Empire, The Arcadian or Pastoral State, Thomas Cole

American / Landscape / Paintings (Reproductions) - 1 year ago - troycapc

The Course of Empire, The Arcadian or Pastoral State, Thomas Cole

This is a reproduction of the second of Thomas Cole’s five part series, “The Course of Empire”.  This second painting, “The Arcadian or Pastoral State” depicts a landscape in which pastoralism predominates with a structure reminiscent of Stonehenge in the center of the painting.  Cole was reflecting the popular American belief that pastoralism, the agriculturally based state, was preferable to the imperial states of Europe and Asia.  The setting is an imaginary geography identifiable in each painting by a small mountain topped with an iconic boulder.  The original canvas is 160 cm wide and 100 cm high and is in the New York Historical Society.

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