The Oxbow (View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm)
1836 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Thomas Cole (1801–1848)
- Year
- 1836
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 130.8 × 193 cm
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Movement
- Hudson River School
From the summit of Mount Holyoke, Cole looks down on the Connecticut River looping back on itself in the great bend called the Oxbow. A thunderstorm is clearing: to the left a wild, storm-lashed slope with a blasted tree, to the right a sunlit patchwork of farms, fields and hay along the river. The two halves have been read ever since as wilderness and civilisation set face to face. Cole painted it in 1836 for the National Academy of Design exhibition, at the urging of his patron Luman Reed, as a break from the labour of The Course of Empire. He put himself in the picture: a tiny figure at lower centre, pausing from a sketch to look back at the viewer. The canvas was given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Mrs Russell Sage in 1908.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A storm-lashed slope beside sunlit farmland with a river looping below, a wide American landscape for a living room, study or dining room at 24×16 in black. A sage, cream or warm grey wall; it suits a room with wood furniture and views.
- Style
- Hudson River School painting
- Era
- 19th century (1836)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 18×12, 24×16 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; oak lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm — The Oxbow in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm — The Oxbow painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
The full-bleed edition
The painting printed edge-to-edge at its own proportions, filling the whole sheet — and available on gallery-wrapped canvas.
