History-Makers: Thomas Cole

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  • Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
  • You ever see a series of 5 landscape paintings that completely rewires your brain? WELL YOU WILL NOW.
    ✨Space Cat, SPACE CAT! 🦁 The LEO zodiac pin is now available in our merch store!overlysarcasti...
    SOURCES & Further Reading:
    “Thomas Cole The Artist As Architect” by Annette Blaugrund, with Foreword by Barbara Novak and Essay by Franklin Kelly
    “Essay on American Scenery” by Thomas Cole, published in American Monthly Magazine 1 (January 1836)
    “Thomas Cole (1801-1848)” by Kevin J. Avery for the Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum....
    “Explore Thomas Cole” digital interactive tour & gallery from Thomas Cole National Historic Site web.archive.or...
    “Thomas Cole: American Artist” from Thomas Cole National Historic Site thomascole.org...
    “Thomas Cole” from National Gallery of Art www.nga.gov/co...
    “Thomas Cole” & “Hudson River School” from Britannica www.britannica...
    And lots and lots and lots of time spent staring at “The Course of Empire”
    MUSIC:
    "Sneaky Snitch" by Kevin MacLeod
    "The Sacred Land of Artemis" from Assassin's Creed Odyssey OST by The Flight
    "Awake" from Skyrim OST by Jeremy Soule
    "Phoibe the Orphan" from Assassin's Creed Odyssey OST by The Flight
    "Korinth" from Assassin's Creed Odyssey OST by The Flight
    "Sign of the Colossus" from Shadow of the Colossus OST by Kow Otani
    "I Know How It Feels To Be Lost" from Stray Gods OST by Austin Wintory
    "Where the Nekkos Roam" from Jedi Survivor OST by Gordi Haab
    Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.
    PATREON: / osp
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    DISCORD: / discord
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    OUR WEBSITE: www.OverlySarc...
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    Want this video in another language? Check out our guide to contributing translated captions: www.overlysarc...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 566

  • @OverlySarcasticProductions
    @OverlySarcasticProductions  Місяць тому +144

    ✨Space Cat, SPACE CAT! 🦁The LEO zodiac pin is now available in our merch store!
    overlysarcastic.shop/
    -B

    • @iangreer4585
      @iangreer4585 Місяць тому +3

      Leocatra?

    • @seekingsomethingshamanic
      @seekingsomethingshamanic Місяць тому +3

      hey red, ive been asking on all your posts for weeks now, and i shall ask again today. 😅may i get the bacchae please? hell at this point ill take a history maker: euripedes blue help! red sensei pleasseeee

    • @seekingsomethingshamanic
      @seekingsomethingshamanic Місяць тому +1

      i was so excited to comment, and now o have a new hyperfixation

    • @shadowscribe
      @shadowscribe Місяць тому

      If you're still thinking about a meme series of them, maybe those should be gold trimmed.

    • @samn8825
      @samn8825 Місяць тому +1

      I'm a Leo yeah

  • @billywarren007
    @billywarren007 Місяць тому +1399

    History with Bob Ross confirmed? “Now beat the Barbarian right out of that brush!”

    • @KingsOfWinter
      @KingsOfWinter Місяць тому +66

      honestly if blue did a piece on the cultural impact on the PBS of that era I'd be 10000% there for that

    • @NicoBabyman1
      @NicoBabyman1 Місяць тому +36

      “Everybody needs a friend, let’s paint a scantily clad woman right here.”

    • @FinrodFelagundTheFair
      @FinrodFelagundTheFair Місяць тому +9

      It's too close to modern history. Blue won't do it. He'd have to jump into a pile of Odysseies just to wash the taste out of his mouth.

    • @ShanRenxin
      @ShanRenxin Місяць тому +22

      Remember, there are no downfalls, only happy sackings.

    • @FinrodFelagundTheFair
      @FinrodFelagundTheFair Місяць тому +1

      @@ShanRenxin Sacks baaabbeee!

  • @nightrocker1343
    @nightrocker1343 Місяць тому +1974

    I just love that the intro is Blue justifying his choices of people to discuss with this series. It's great. It has the same energy as Red suddenly realizing that she could talk about Eclipses cause it's her Channel.

    • @tylerp.8352
      @tylerp.8352 Місяць тому +81

      If it happened, its history, all you blue
      And, if it didn’t, its mythology
      There’s literally nothing you guys can’t talk about

    • @almessasorrow4950
      @almessasorrow4950 Місяць тому +38

      ​@@tylerp.8352 red isn't myth, she's Fiction, blue is non fiction. Hence trope talks and domes.
      So yeah they can talk about anything.

    • @DanJones-np8xb
      @DanJones-np8xb Місяць тому +23

      DOMES!?
      where?
      >.>

    • @almessasorrow4950
      @almessasorrow4950 Місяць тому +21

      @@DanJones-np8xb Everybody scatter! They're after our domes!

  • @KeelanPowell
    @KeelanPowell Місяць тому +1265

    Other Historians: To be admitted to this club, you must specifically-
    Blue: DOOR'S OPEN KIDS! GET IN HERE!

    • @cxfxcdude
      @cxfxcdude Місяць тому +27

      What gate keeping should be

    • @forlornhope4712
      @forlornhope4712 Місяць тому +1

      eh, not really. plus, gatekeeping is good imo

    • @StarshadowMelody
      @StarshadowMelody Місяць тому +15

      @@forlornhope4712 How's it feel being a bloodstained fool?

    • @thundercrash4775
      @thundercrash4775 Місяць тому +29

      ​@@StarshadowMelody There is something to be said for "everyone is welcome to come in, but if you make a mess of the place, you will be kicked out."

    • @michaelyoung7261
      @michaelyoung7261 Місяць тому +16

      Blue is to history makers what the block mom is to the kids of the street: you can have drinks and treats until you become a reason that you should be kicked out.

  • @BleydXVI
    @BleydXVI Місяць тому +217

    Between Blue saying "My domain is endless and my authority is absolute", him emphasizing art as a means to understand the culture that created it, and literally being called blue, I think that he may be Grand Admiral Thrawn preparing to conquer Earth for the Chiss Ascendency. I for one welcome our new Chiss overlords

    • @michaelyoung7261
      @michaelyoung7261 Місяць тому +15

      He is a *Grand* Admiral for a reason

    • @mialemon6186
      @mialemon6186 Місяць тому +1

      Now if only he can get a slick Netflix series about him buddying up with Vader, we’ll be solid. 😂

    • @AnimeSunglasses
      @AnimeSunglasses 18 днів тому

      ... excuse me, I have some investments to go make in a small planet in the Inner Rim...

  • @elizaripper
    @elizaripper Місяць тому +627

    This is the year of Blue finding an excuse to talk about whatever he wants. It’s a glorious year that the historians will write of forever. 💙😁

  • @alexbrewer9930
    @alexbrewer9930 Місяць тому +511

    “…May my fears be foolish; a few years will tell.” Now isn’t that a sentiment that I hope for all of us. And I thought you said he wasn’t a writer!

  • @LujeAldwald
    @LujeAldwald Місяць тому +431

    As someone that went to art school and is a professional illustrator, this is the best art history lesson I've heard, and this is awesome, but also a reflection on how terrible my art history classes were, and they were bad

    • @Vinemaple
      @Vinemaple Місяць тому +14

      Pro tip: don't read reviews of visual art in the New York Review of Books or the London Review of Books. They are full of meaningless bafflegab, and if they don't trigger you they will annoy and frustrate you.

    • @FaelumbreProject
      @FaelumbreProject Місяць тому +13

      Same here in part. Until Impressionism we did learn a lot of historical background like this, but by Modernism it was like all the articles knew were the author's own words and not how the history *they are in* shaped each thing even subconciously. Started to feel more like a class of how to write a gallery blurb under the piece.

    • @LujeAldwald
      @LujeAldwald Місяць тому +6

      @@FaelumbreProject That sounds better than what i did, we were shown and told to memorize a slide show and tested on that, to even think that was college level history?? There was no analysis, no thought, no conversation, no replication to learn the techniques, it was duller than my high school art history lessons

    • @xhagast
      @xhagast Місяць тому +3

      Not everybody is lucky enough to study at Verrocchio's.

    • @mialemon6186
      @mialemon6186 Місяць тому +3

      @@LujeAldwaldthis is so sad. Even my local community college did better than that.
      I didn’t care for the works we were asked to examine, but I did get to write a multipage paper on a sculptor (and his work) of my own choice.
      My instructor likely never wants to hear the artists name uttered ever again. 😂😂😂😂

  • @evararipple9587
    @evararipple9587 Місяць тому +283

    "The kind of art that never lets go" Uh yeah new favorite historical painter unlocked. Ty Blue for unlocking a new part of the historical skill tree for me

    • @togaturtle
      @togaturtle Місяць тому +10

      Very true, most historical art I can agree is technically good and I'm sure it means stuff to people, but these paintings are beautiful and haunting.

    • @Vinemaple
      @Vinemaple Місяць тому +2

      I feel like I suddenly understand so much more about American painting, now. Were the later, embarrassing, Hudson River School allegory paintings, and the cringey old state seals, attempts to emulate Cole's nuanced and subtle allegories?

  • @lesbaguette4381
    @lesbaguette4381 Місяць тому +142

    Desolation is my second-favorite painting of all time, and there's an element that I'm surprised Blue didn't mention. Dotted across the landscape, the remnants of former civilizations don't just use a singular architectural style - there's Mycenaean, Athenian, Classic and late Roman, and other such Mediterranean influences spread across the canvas.
    This is not a single cycle - this is where it all ends. The birth and death and rise and fall and birth and death and rise and fall and birth and rise and fall - it always leads to this.
    Desolation.

  • @EqqusHearts
    @EqqusHearts Місяць тому +47

    Hi Blue! We actually talked about the Oxbow as a historical document in my Forest ecology course in Grad School!
    Because of how detailed his paintings are we can use them to understand what forest structure in New England was like in early America.

    • @OverlySarcasticProductions
      @OverlySarcasticProductions  Місяць тому +20

      That is unbelievably cool. There's dedication to the craft and then there's *that*.
      -B

  • @runningthemeta5570
    @runningthemeta5570 Місяць тому +220

    Blue after this video: “Now I know exactly how to defeat Thomas Cole in battle.”

    • @lazyc0mmander277
      @lazyc0mmander277 Місяць тому +40

      The answer is you don't. The man killed Mario, you don't fuck with that.

    • @parkerdixon-word6295
      @parkerdixon-word6295 Місяць тому +32

      Did we start making memes that Blue is fucking Grand Admiral Thrawn and nobody told me?

    • @runningthemeta5570
      @runningthemeta5570 Місяць тому +15

      @@parkerdixon-word6295 not that I know of. But the fact that Blue is talking about a painter made it an easy connection to make.

    • @michaelyoung7261
      @michaelyoung7261 Місяць тому +5

      I see your reference. It is a good one.

  • @malemrajoinam
    @malemrajoinam Місяць тому +166

    I really like how the Old landscape slowly moves from its original location focusing more on the river in the Second Painting ( Since yanno rivers are centers of civilization and when a substantial amount of people appear the painting moves)

  • @RememberingStars023
    @RememberingStars023 Місяць тому +60

    I’ve seen the painting ‘Destruction’ so many times, but I never knew it was supposed to be an imaginary event. I’d probably have said the sack of Rome if pressed to answer what I thought it was depicting.

    • @blacksage2375
      @blacksage2375 Місяць тому

      Can't be Rome since Rome isn't a port... but yeah.

    • @Jfk2Mr
      @Jfk2Mr 23 дні тому

      ​@@blacksage2375it doesn't need to be near the sea to be the port - lots of goods were and are travelling using riverine barges

  • @RmsOceanic
    @RmsOceanic Місяць тому +107

    Desolation of Empire might be both the most peaceful and melancholy piece of art I've seen.

  • @SparkleMechEng
    @SparkleMechEng Місяць тому +116

    I used to look at paintings as "ooh pretty" but not much more. Blue finally gave me a deeper understanding of paintings. Thanks, blue!

    • @dangerousflyer4485
      @dangerousflyer4485 Місяць тому +8

      It's the same with buildings for me, it's great innit?

    • @Duiker36
      @Duiker36 Місяць тому +4

      There's a neat channel called Great Art Explained that you might find interesting.

  • @NathanS__
    @NathanS__ Місяць тому +17

    I always knew that the painting was allegorical and not depicting Rome or Greece or any real Empire but I never noticed the Red vs Green foreshadowing and that the Fall was a civil war.
    Very cool.

    • @sydhenderson6753
      @sydhenderson6753 5 днів тому

      Reminds me of the sports conflict that almost overthrew Justinian.

  • @Patch-lz9yi
    @Patch-lz9yi Місяць тому +22

    I was not anticipating the realization of the foreshadowing of the empire's demise and the pain that brings to the people caught up in the destruction to be followed by "Damn, poor one out for Mario," but I absolutely love it

  • @bobseltheslimeking
    @bobseltheslimeking Місяць тому +50

    I've studied Cole for my Bachelor's thesis! Regarding the "split" landscape: it's more split into the Sublime and the Picturesque. The Sublime being awe-inducing, mighty and scary. The Picturesque being pretty, tame, etc.
    The Course of Empire is moreso an argument for a pastoral mode of living. On the painting showing this pastoral nature behind the mountain in the back another, higher mountain can be seen.

    • @ferretyluv
      @ferretyluv Місяць тому +4

      That’s what I saw. The whole Roussseauian noble savage and tabula rasa thing that was pretty popular in the Age of Enlightenment.

  • @TheNewtC
    @TheNewtC Місяць тому +30

    As someone who once wrote a college paper on the Course of Empire, this was uniquely fascinating to watch. First of all as a way to see all the things I missed during my (admittedly much less observant) college days, but also to truly appreciate how much work Thomas Cole put into these paintings. 13 years later they still haven't left my head, and it was a welcome surprise to learn more through this video.

  • @victoriab8186
    @victoriab8186 Місяць тому +37

    This series of paintings really seems to be one of the best case scenarios in terms of the effects of the Grand Tour. Here is a guy who, having travelled and seen historical places, realises that being able to see those physical places can create a different understanding to that given by reading history books. And it works so well.
    Recently I had an incredibly moving experience in relation to historical depiction. I was visiting a ruined priory, which I'd never heard about but happened to see on a map with a convenient bus route, and really just expected it to be an interesting location for a walk. There were information board in different sections of the ruins, each having an artist's depiction of what this place might have looked like 800 years ago - not just architecturally, but in use as a place of education, worship, and a communal home. Seeing these pictures, whilst standing in the ruins, overtaken with grass and flowers, made me cry for what was lost. I had never felt that before, and it made me viscerally understand the significance of the dissolution of the monasteries in a way that studying it three different times at school never had.

  • @jamesmanger4392
    @jamesmanger4392 Місяць тому +102

    "Pour one out for Mario" has no right to hit that hard.

  • @Rutgerman95
    @Rutgerman95 Місяць тому +61

    Hang on... is this secretly a tie-in to Red's environmental storytelling video from last week?

    • @colinneagle4495
      @colinneagle4495 Місяць тому +19

      That's such an aptly made connection! I even watched Red's recent video but I never would have noticed their thematic similarities until I read your comment!

    • @Rutgerman95
      @Rutgerman95 Місяць тому +15

      @@colinneagle4495 All the Ghibli stuff really rewired their brains didnt it XD

  • @kylehall8760
    @kylehall8760 Місяць тому +22

    "Pour one out for Mario, damn." It's jokes like these, from both Blue and Red, that make this channel my favorite one on Yourube

  • @kiwilemontea4622
    @kiwilemontea4622 Місяць тому +15

    Dang. "May my fears be foolish" is a great quote.

  • @zarg0n44
    @zarg0n44 Місяць тому +66

    I had no idea the fall painting was part of a 5 part series, that's neat

  • @ObscuraDeCapra
    @ObscuraDeCapra Місяць тому +8

    Cole is my favorite painter and I've had opportunity to see a number of his works in person. What's truly amazing is how well he communicates scale. This seems like it should be trivial for any decent painter, but few ever get the proportion of human to nature right. Even Bierstadt, a more technically sound painter IMO, couldn't make the humans in his paintings "sit" the right way. They always stand out or are featured. The people in Cole's works are rarely the subject and even when they are (such as his Last of the Mohicans paintings) they're de-emphasized.
    Hell, even in Consummation and Destruction the people give way to the architecture. It's only through sheer numbers that they dominate the canvas.
    Which may have been the point.

  • @mihokspawn
    @mihokspawn Місяць тому +17

    The “Shadow of Cololosus” music for part 4 is a *chefs kiss* choice.

  • @Poetwander
    @Poetwander Місяць тому +37

    Thomas Cole for years has been my favorite painter. His details and expanse of nature, man and ego and history always been breath taking. I was lucky when I was younger to see his artwork . And now to see him finally talked about by my favorite UA-cam channel means so much.

  • @GellertCira
    @GellertCira Місяць тому +27

    This was like when I go on museum toures with my art history major friend. They info dump all the small metaphores I otherwise would have missed. Or when you get an actual person as the guided tour at a museum since they have much more enthusiasum than a recording of some facts could have .
    This video really felt like a conversation. :) Thank you Blue for this

  • @gormauslander
    @gormauslander Місяць тому +48

    It's so interesting to examine these works from the perspective of a guy who just arrived at the birth of the new Rome. The new nation thinks itself different, and predictably follows the exact same path, progressively paving over nature more and more, and eventually making it's great wealth through the subjugation of others.
    It makes one wonder how far away that desolation phase is for us...

    • @ShanRenxin
      @ShanRenxin Місяць тому +5

      As the man said, "My fears may be foolish... a few years will tell."

    • @mvmlego1212
      @mvmlego1212 Місяць тому

      _"eventually making it's great wealth through the subjugation of others"_
      That's an oversimplification. The majority of the United States' wealth or prosperity wasn't plundered; it was created through ingenuity and cooperation. For just a few examples, consider Benjamin Franklin, George Washington Carver, Henry Ford, and Bill Gates.
      Your statement also overlooks the sacrifices that the United States has made to end subjugation, both inside and outside its borders. The Civil War and World War II are the most significant examples of this.

    • @gormauslander
      @gormauslander Місяць тому

      @@mvmlego1212 You are correct that it is a simplification, because it was a remark on the person, not a class on global politics. Your additional beliefs about why it was incorrect are factually misguided though.
      The ways in which a society contrives it's social controls, the ways it conducts war, and the exact methods by which it enacts injustice on others to serve it's selfish goals change over time, but the basic patterns are all still there. I didn't say they "plundered" because that word more specifically refers to the old methods of extracting wealth from subjugating others, which as I said, have changed.
      If you think that market capitalism doesn't subjugate and exploit people in this country and others, then you are not yet at an education level concerning economics and anthropological concerns on globalization to comment on the subject. If you think that Bill Gates "earned" his wealth by simply being born smarter than everyone then the propaganda of US market capitalism has worked.

    • @gormauslander
      @gormauslander Місяць тому

      @@yeahbutwhy8788 The story with the US is a lot more subtle for sure. "Slavery" is "illegal", but people can be bound by the situation the system forces them into, generating tens of thousands for the company they work for and receiving only enough to keep them coming back for more. We had more free time as hunter gatherers and were sometimes better fed too, but that lifestyle doesn't make the machine spin, so it's being stamped out everywhere around the world. Cultures are dying because the concept of someone living their lives peacefully and freely doesn't suit the need to appease the great slot machine the US is to other countries.
      They don't "conquest", but they send troops across the ocean to fight proxy wars "on behalf" of other countries, who are now subjects in a proximal way. It's not an "empire", but it maintains control of countries through brute forcing (Japan), or the fear of retaliation (South Korea).

    • @aidanshort3767
      @aidanshort3767 25 днів тому

      As much as I'd love to think that, the United States was made on slavery, subjugation, and genocide. You don't conquer a continent and become a world superpower without commiting some seriously fucked up acts. These aren't things of the past either, the US still exploits it's citizens and people all around the world. Yes, there was ingenuity and intelligence in the history and that's important to celebrate and remember, but it shouldn't blot out the atrocities. Remembering both is important if we want to be better in the future.​@@mvmlego1212

  • @Historyfrek4ever
    @Historyfrek4ever Місяць тому +10

    Holy hell, Coles' "The Oxbow" actually seems to contain him making "the Oxbow". The man really was a master of his craft. (A non-statement but I stand by it.)

    • @colinneagle4495
      @colinneagle4495 Місяць тому

      That's such a great point! In that way, "The Oxbow" is Thomas Cole's equivalent of Diego Velazquez’s "Las Meninas," as a great painting that shows the painter in the act of painting the painting the viewer is currently marveling at. A sort of Meta-Masterpiece if you will!

    • @Historyfrek4ever
      @Historyfrek4ever Місяць тому +2

      @@colinneagle4495 It does give this impression of looking through a window into the situation the composition is some how very alive. I think they theorized that Velazquez used a mirror for it.
      With the Oxbow I am impressed by the size of the detail and the fact it is still able to convey what he is painting, though I might be wrong in regard to what painting he is painting in the painting. Painting.

  • @AMoniqueOcampo
    @AMoniqueOcampo Місяць тому +20

    You just name-dropped John Trumbull like it was nothing. I hope to see more about visual art and architecture in the future.

  • @darkwalk5007
    @darkwalk5007 Місяць тому +16

    Thomas Cole is one of my favorite american artists. Thank you so much for talking about him and his work!

  • @SoYeahIDidWhat
    @SoYeahIDidWhat Місяць тому +34

    Finding new people I had never heard about?! Sign me up!

  • @jamesmanger4392
    @jamesmanger4392 Місяць тому +7

    This is one of your best recent videos, and that's no small comparison. Starting with a single landscape, then exploring The Course of Empire, and ending on Cole's reflections on the politics of an expanding America really made your conclusion hit like a truck. Definitely a new favorite, and I can't wait to see more atypical historians show up in this series!

  • @mathieuleader8601
    @mathieuleader8601 Місяць тому +14

    Cole seems to have been the forerunner to painting happy little trees

  • @a.morphous66
    @a.morphous66 Місяць тому +9

    The part of the video visually describing the Course of Empires is some of the most evocative writing I've ever seen on this channel. I bet someone who's never seen the paintings could envision something very close to them just by your descriptions. Excellent work.
    And, semi-relatedly, giving me high hopes for the prosaic quality of the Veneziad!

  • @saraa3418
    @saraa3418 Місяць тому +5

    Genius move with the Copeland in the background. You're really showcasing the American innovation in the arts.

  • @charley8233
    @charley8233 Місяць тому +6

    I think its interesting also how nature (Green) was taken over by the people (the red, the solider in red in the second painting) to the red in their hight of power but to have the green faction in the fourth painting appear to be wining against the red, as seen through the children in the third and the old men in the fourth. How in the end nature took its place back and was able to make the landscape green once again.

    • @colinneagle4495
      @colinneagle4495 Місяць тому

      That would be a great subject of an art history paper about this series! I'd give that paper a A grade for sure!

  • @John_Weiss
    @John_Weiss Місяць тому +5

    How serendipitous! I'm currently listening to WAMC, the public radio station based in Albany that covers the Hudson Valley, interviewing staff from the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. Apparently there's a new visitor's center and other renovations at Thomas Cole's estate in Catskill, NY, changes that better showcase the surrounding scenery of the Hudson River and Catskill Mtns.

    • @colinneagle4495
      @colinneagle4495 Місяць тому +1

      I first heard about Thomas Cole as an art student, and I thought that he was under appreciated for an artist of his talent and influence, so I'm glad to hear that his artistic legacy is still being celebrated!

  • @opsauras1507
    @opsauras1507 Місяць тому +6

    'Tis a good day when osp uploads a video about your favorite 19th century artist.

  • @tyrant-den884
    @tyrant-den884 Місяць тому +5

    Playing CK3 and my current court healer has written THREE books on different aspects of medicine so far (one in five _might_ be inspired to write a book)
    And I am like: this guy is writing history.
    Medical archeologists will build fan clubs to him, hospitals will be named after him.

  • @chelseawhite7117
    @chelseawhite7117 Місяць тому +2

    3:24 ahhhhhh!! 😁 that’s my town!!! Northampton representing!!! So cool to get a spotlight in a History Makers episode

  • @isaacscifi_
    @isaacscifi_ Місяць тому +4

    Thomas Cole told the story of every empire in five amazing works of art and those works allows to understand the rise and fall of empires Thomas Cole you sure were a madlad

  • @TechBearSeattle
    @TechBearSeattle Місяць тому +3

    Many years ago, I took an interdisciplinary college course -- 9 semester units! -- that combined western civ 1, art history, and world literature. It was THE most interesting class I ever took in history, because it kept shifting around to look at stuff from a whole new perspective. Such as what we know of prehistory coming from prehistoric art such as venus figurines and bird sculptures, how medieval stained glass and signage icons were the literature of a mostly illiterate society, and how the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance reflected the Reformation and the the influx of classical Greek myths and Islamic influences. So it is not only perfectly sensible to look at a group of artists or a period of art to understand history, it is weird that this is not done far more often.

  • @jjwang7597
    @jjwang7597 День тому +1

    Funny story - I learned about Thomas Cole from a practice SAT test’s reading section lol, where the passage author described Cole’s paintings so passionately and excitedly that I had to go look him up when I got home.
    He’s probably my favorite painter ever now, this Course of Empire series and particularly his Life of Man series (which you should totally check out because it’s incredible) are soo cool to me and strike that perfect balance of beautiful art and deep meaning

  • @themannerchannel784
    @themannerchannel784 25 днів тому

    Blue’s passionate description of the paintings is like poetry. I love this channel so much!

  • @ryandeschanel6925
    @ryandeschanel6925 Місяць тому +3

    One of my all-time favourite painters.

  • @AEtherArts
    @AEtherArts 16 днів тому

    Never stop the art history! learning about art history as an art major has been one of my favorite things!

  • @fiona8305
    @fiona8305 Місяць тому +2

    Thank you so much for focusing on visual history in your videos, Blue! As an art history student it really encourages me!

  • @zenkomenhi
    @zenkomenhi Місяць тому +1

    It really is spot-on to describe Thomas Cole's paintings as getting their hooks into your brain. The Course of Empire is a series which you never forget.

  • @cthulhuswaistcoat2739
    @cthulhuswaistcoat2739 Місяць тому +1

    Seeing “The Oxbow” in this video brings back fond memories of a really awesome high school English class lesson where we were using what we had learned about Romanticism in literature like Frankenstein and applying it to Romantic paintings as a genre and analyzing how their symbolism and social commentary connected to what we were reading as well as how they evoked certain emotions in comparison to how Romantic writers did. Good stuff.

  • @PantherAssaultCannon
    @PantherAssaultCannon 27 днів тому +1

    Excellent episode. The Amsterdam City Museum we visited this year began with paintings and had some good information from the curators about how art can inform history, but that one has to consider the artist's motivations and the patron's motivations. A painting of the city might look like a photo, but isn't one (and even a photographer makes decisions about what to photograph)

  • @rebeccajensen888
    @rebeccajensen888 Місяць тому +3

    9:10 “damn, poor one out for Mario” took me out 😂
    Also I love this series so much! Each history maker you share is so unique in their own way 😊

  • @thomasdelege2382
    @thomasdelege2382 Місяць тому +3

    One of my favourite painters! Dreams of Arcadia had been my computers background for years. It is just stunning.

  • @FuzzyStripetail
    @FuzzyStripetail Місяць тому +5

    Thomas Cole grabbed the Oxbow by the horns (or ox-iness) when he painted the first landscapes that incorporated incredible beauty and human versus nature duality along with the first Where's Waldo find me in the painting aspect of modern art.

  • @annakofron7059
    @annakofron7059 27 днів тому

    I remember getting to see some of Thomas Cole's work in person and it was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had.

  • @matthewcole4753
    @matthewcole4753 Місяць тому

    Thomas Cole is an underrated artist. Seeing his works is a window into places I know long before even the oldest people I've known were born. He saw that these swaths of nature were quickly vanishing and took action to preserve it the best way he knew (he had no chance at modern conservation, so he painted it.)

  • @hanna-liminal
    @hanna-liminal Місяць тому

    !!!! I'm so excited that we get painters as history-makers now!
    May my mother's recurring (and infectious) fascination with Caspar David Friedrich finally have its place in the sun too

  • @thomasloos8257
    @thomasloos8257 Місяць тому +2

    Great subject matter, the choice of Cole as a history maker is indeed justified. If I ever had to pick a favourite painting of mine, as impossible as that is, I would probably name Desolation, and you described the whole series excellently.

  • @indydiependaele2345
    @indydiependaele2345 25 днів тому

    I think this is the first time in my life I truly admired the genius of a painting

  • @sydhenderson6753
    @sydhenderson6753 5 днів тому

    Thomas Cole is currently my congressman. I had no idea he was such an accomplished artist.
    Okay, I'd never heard of this artist, and it's interesting that you took the time to memorialize him. He reminds me of Rudyard Kipling, the poet of Imperialism, who also at the peak of Jingoism wrote "Recessional," an ode about the collapse of British imperialism.

  • @Worldbuilder-o1k
    @Worldbuilder-o1k Місяць тому +6

    Let’s do some Art History!!! I studied this guy in Art School!

  • @EyalBrown
    @EyalBrown Місяць тому +2

    I felt genuine tears welling up at the description of Destruction, only to be whipped right back into laughing at a Nintendo reference. That was a bold choice of tonal whiplash, but at least for me it worked, so well done!

  • @-lijosu-
    @-lijosu- Місяць тому

    I haven’t seen the other course of an empire paintings until now and honestly?
    I think Desolation might be one of my favourite paintings ever now. So beautiful.

  • @weaverfromthenorth
    @weaverfromthenorth 26 днів тому

    This episode was straight fire. Particularly powerful and not just because we got to see good art but because the context of it all was masterfully rendered clear. Going as far as to show that the artist themselves wanted this message to be told in their era. Powerful stuff. Well played.

  • @hannahyamauchi839
    @hannahyamauchi839 Місяць тому

    That's such a radical thing to convey in art, not just back then, but now as well

  • @lily8122
    @lily8122 Місяць тому

    Thomas Cole is my absolute favorite artist. And the Course of Empires are my favorite paintings. I have them decorating my bedroom. Thanks for doing this video, I didn’t noticed so many details you pointed out in the video.

  • @patrickosborne1707
    @patrickosborne1707 Місяць тому

    Blues Analysis and appreciation for the art has actually made me order my own set of prints to hang up cause they are so good

  • @foulplayer7812
    @foulplayer7812 Місяць тому +1

    Feels like we’re getting spoiled hearing Blue discuss something as late as the 1800s and in America! He’s really stepping outside his preferred historical era and region of the world. Feels like Christmas in August.

  • @theratking0285
    @theratking0285 Місяць тому

    Thank you so much for making this video Blue! Thomas Cole has been one of my favorite artists ever since my AP art history class. Although I love his paintings I didn't know much about his life. So I'm very glad you expanded upon the details.

  • @jackwriter1908
    @jackwriter1908 Місяць тому

    I always wanted this painting series on my walls on the stairs, so that you can - while walking up - look at the different phases... thanks for this, love to know more about fascinating stuff! 😃

  • @russergee49
    @russergee49 Місяць тому

    Fascinating. I’m not well schooled in art or art history, but I am quite stunned and intrigued by both the paintings and the evolving ‘story’ behind them. Thanks Blue!

  • @emanuelosorio9610
    @emanuelosorio9610 Місяць тому

    I am a fan of 'The Course of Empire' and when i saw the title on my notifications, i immediately came. So glad it was covered

  • @932ForeverLove
    @932ForeverLove Місяць тому

    Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Blue!

  • @Undef1ned0ne
    @Undef1ned0ne Місяць тому

    i wasn't expecting to be touched so deeply by this video and these truly incredible paintings

  • @jenniferwatson2107
    @jenniferwatson2107 Місяць тому

    I LOVE this new way of talking about history with you!!! I’m not saying you have to make more…but if you make more, I will definitely watch them;)

  • @DoomMomDot
    @DoomMomDot Місяць тому

    I had not heard of Cole before, so thanks, Blue for increasing my knowledge.

  • @gillianjohnson1122
    @gillianjohnson1122 Місяць тому

    Blue your enthusiasm is wonderful and makes me want to check out Mr Cole’s work myself

  • @Arohan71
    @Arohan71 Місяць тому

    You made this Illustrator (someone who's painting influences trace to the same roots that'd influence the kind of neoclassical style this guy is using) very happy

  • @Swiftpaw12
    @Swiftpaw12 29 днів тому

    ...And in the span of 12 and a half minutes I went from never having heard of this series of paintings to being absolutely enamored by them.

  • @dominictemple
    @dominictemple Місяць тому +2

    I'd seen Cole's Destruction painting before but I never knew it was part of a sequence for empire. Thanks for this.

  • @meganneely5502
    @meganneely5502 Місяць тому

    As an art historian who's used OS for years, I'm thrilled to have a splash of some artist analysis. I've always hoped for some art history videos!
    The Course of Empire series is STUNNING in person. If you ever catch them on exhibit, absolutely worth the trip.

  • @darkshadowf1996
    @darkshadowf1996 Місяць тому

    Thank you blue, this was beautiful and informative, and reminded me that art is not just a piece of art, but also a possible view into the past.

  • @francisweller839
    @francisweller839 Місяць тому

    I love the beautiful discussion of a historiographer’s paintings interspersed with Mario jokes

  • @allisonsnyder2998
    @allisonsnyder2998 Місяць тому

    I love the Mount Holyoke shout out. I love hiking up there on Mountain Day

  • @niluett9458
    @niluett9458 Місяць тому +4

    I really like both of you focusing on what you think is interesting, even if it might not quite fit in with what you might be expected to do.
    The videos are great and your passion shines through.

  • @CarbonMage
    @CarbonMage Місяць тому +2

    I was not ready to hear "pour one out for Mario" 😂

  • @ordinarynocturne
    @ordinarynocturne Місяць тому

    The art history lover in me is geeking out right now. Thank you for covering Thomas Cole! If you find any other history-inspired artists that you would like to cover, please do!

  • @zacharymarlow8161
    @zacharymarlow8161 Місяць тому

    I first got into Cole while listening to the Fall of Civilizations podcast and noticed the background picture which was Desolation and I got curious about it and after searching for it found the Course of Empire and Thomas Cole. I imagine my surprise when I saw Destruction and finally had a name for a painting, I had always seen but never really thought about. And ever since I've been a massive fan of not only him put the Hudson Valley School in general... guess I just really love landscape paintings. Heck I even bought a Great Courses plus course on American Art because they dedicated two lectures to Cole.
    And now Blue is covering one of my favorite artists and one of the best series of painting... man good things do come to those who wait.

  • @joshuajordan6278
    @joshuajordan6278 28 днів тому

    I've seen one or two of those paintings before but had no idea they were part of a five part series. That's an awesome new perspective.

  • @maxgustafsson7802
    @maxgustafsson7802 Місяць тому +2

    Oh my god! My favorite painter on my favorite infodump chanmel!
    (I know very little about painting but I like his stuff)

  • @MrDalisclock
    @MrDalisclock Місяць тому

    I love the Course of Empire and appreciate you drawing attention to it.

  • @martijnvanweele6204
    @martijnvanweele6204 Місяць тому

    Both videos are great on their own, but this one and last week's Trope Talk about environmental storytelling fit so well together!

  • @blubistheword
    @blubistheword Місяць тому +1

    This has given me a new appreciation for Cole's art💙

  • @postapocalypticnewsradio
    @postapocalypticnewsradio Місяць тому +1

    This was a marvelous video. Thank you, friend.

  • @TheNovusSpes
    @TheNovusSpes Місяць тому

    Hell YES I am down with this. I had no idea this was A SERIES of paintings.

  • @abthedragon4921
    @abthedragon4921 Місяць тому +2

    Well, this is an interesting spin on the history makers series I wasn't expecting but I am certainly here for!

  • @drencore767
    @drencore767 Місяць тому +1

    I really enjoyed this one blue! I hope you do more art in the future cause its such a good way to visualize history, even if the contents themselves are made up