Frenchman's Bay, Mount Desert Island, Maine
Thomas Cole (1801-1848)
Date:
1844
Medium:
Oil on wood panel
Dimensions:
14 H x 23 W
Inscription:
Signed bottom left: T. Cole; inscribed, rear: T. Cole / 115 Bank St. / New York
Credit:
Albany Institute of History & Art Purchase, Evelyn Newman Fund
Accession Number:
1964.69
Comments:
In August and September of 1844, Thomas Cole and his companion Henry C. Pratt visited Mount Desert Island and the surrounding areas along the coast of Maine. While there, he was struck by the drama displayed by nature as evidenced by a quote from his journal: "A tremendous overhanging precipice, rising from the ocean, with the surf dashing against it in a frightful manner. The whole coast along here is iron bound, threatening crags, and dark caverns in which the sea thunders." His feelings for the violence and power of the Maine coast, so well described in the journal, are echoed in this piece.
