Artwork
Sketch for View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm (The Oxbow)
Sketch for View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm (The Oxbow) is an oil painting by the Hudson River School artist Thomas Cole. It dates from 1836 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
Its support is a board, typical of mid‑19th‑century American landscape studies, and the piece measures approximately 14 cm in height by 23.
The work is a sketch for Thomas Cole’s famous painting The Oxbow, executed in 1836 using oil and pencil on a rigid composition board. Its support is a board, typical of mid‑19th‑century American landscape studies, and the piece measures approximately 14 cm in height by 23.8 cm in width, as recorded in the Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogue. The drawing belongs to the Hudson River School tradition, employing loose pencil underdrawing beneath thin oil washes to suggest atmospheric light and the turbulent sky after a storm.
Formal qualities include a balanced composition of river, tree and distant horizon, rendered with delicate tonal modulation and a restrained palette that emphasizes the dramatic contrast between cleared land and looming clouds.
History & Provenance
The small oil-and-pencil sketch was made by Thomas Cole in 1836 as a preparatory study for the larger finished canvas View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm (commonly called The Oxbow). Cole’s diary confirms he began the related finished painting in the autumn of 1836, indicating that the sketch predates or was executed concurrently with that work. The sketch entered The Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the Rogers Fund, 1941, accession number 41.134, where it remains in the museum’s collection.
The Sketch for View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm (The Oxbow) is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, specifically within its American Wing. Created in 1836, this oil and pencil work on composition board is cataloged as part of the museum's permanent holdings. While the provided sources confirm the artwork's location and creation date, they do not supply a specific inventory or accession number, nor do they detail a chronological exhibition history for this particular study.
The work is recognized as a landscape painting depicting a river and trees, consistent with Thomas Cole's broader oeuvre housed at the institution.
Overview
This work, titled Sketch for View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm (The Oxbow), is rendered in oil and pencil on composition board. It captures a dramatic landscape scene following a recent storm, presenting a panoramic view that includes a winding river and dense tree cover. The piece serves as a preparatory study for a larger, well-known painting.
Subject & Meaning
The artwork portrays a specific moment in nature, illustrating the immediate aftermath of a thunderstorm over a vast landscape. It emphasizes the contrast between a turbulent, storm-affected region and a more serene, sunlit area. This visual dichotomy highlights themes of nature's power and resilience, as the land begins to recover from the recent weather event, offering a sense of both drama and tranquility.
Artist & collection
Artist
Thomas Cole (February 1, 1801 – February 11, 1848) was an Anglo-American artist who founded the Hudson River School art movement.
- Mountains and Cattle
Clouds
By the Sea
Landscape with Shepherd
Landscape with river and mountain
Study of Clouds over a Landscape
View from Stacey Hill, Stoddard, New Hampshire
Late Evening near Himmelbjerget, Jutland
Landscape (recto)
River Landscape with a Boy Fishing (On the Arno)
Autumn at Mount Chocorua
Landscape in the South of France