#Thomas cole- The Course of Empire: Destruction

[bohemian-nights]

“You will not like my answers. Ask, or begone with you.”

-A Feast for Crows (George RR Martin)🔥🐉

[theartofmetal]

323. Pro Xristou - Rotting Christ (Melodic Black/Gothic Metal, 2024)

Art by Thomas Cole: "Destruction" (1836) out of the 5-piece painting series "The Course of Empire".

"Starting in 1833 Thomas Cole spent 3 years creating The Course of Empire, describing the arc of human culture from ‘savage wilderness’ through high civilization and its inevitable destruction. It is notable in part for reflecting popular American sentiments of the times, when many saw pastoralism as the ideal phase of human civilization, fearing that empire would lead to gluttony and inevitable decay."

[vizuart]

Destruction - Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire (1836)

[fairydustfromhell]

The Course of Empire - Thomas Cole

[tmblriscompleteshit]

The Course of Empire (Destruction) by Thomas Cole

🏛️🏹🔥⚔️🩸💀🏺📜

The Course of Empire: Destruction, is an allegorical oil painting created in 1836 by Thomas Cole that was part of his series The Course of Empire.

Cole, an American Romantic landscape painter, added moral meanings to his work, leading to monumental historical allegories like the epic five-painting series The Course of Empire. Destruction comes second to last in the series, which charts the rise and decline of an imaginary empire. The cyclical nature of civilizations and the tension between the timeless natural world and fleeting man-made “progress” preoccupied many thinkers in Cole’s day—the French and American Revolutions were recent memories and the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Cole himself migrated as a youth from the new industrial center of Lancashire, England, to the open spaces of America.

In Destruction, the forward-leaning stance of the conqueror’s huge statue in the foreground—presiding, ironically, over the city’s destruction—leads us into the picture, to see doom at every turn. The sky thunders, waters swell, magnificent buildings burn, and warring soldiers bring a bridge crashing down—the overwhelming destruction wrought both by war and by nature. The buildings, in ancient Roman style, remind us of that empire’s fall, and Cole seems to see the same potentially fatal arrogance and decadence in the America of the Jacksonian era. The dark skies and billowing smoke, expertly portrayed, show the influence of J.M.W. Turner’s paintings.

[septemberspectre]

The Course of Empire: "Destruction", oil on canvas, 1836, by Thomas Cole.

[litinart]

the course of empire: destruction by thomas cole (1836)

[geschwartz]

[metamorphesque]

The Course of Empire is a series of five paintings created by the English-born American painter Thomas Cole between 1833 and 1836, which depicts the growth and fall of an imaginary city. The Course of Empire comprises the following works: The Course of Empire – The Savage State (1); The Arcadian or Pastoral State (2); The Consummation of Empire (3); Destruction (4); and Desolation (5).

[wojakgallery]

Title/Name:  'Destruction' (painting) from 'The Course of Empire' collection by Thomas Cole Wojak Series:  Smugjak (Variant), Soyjak (Variant). Image by: Unknown Main Tag: Smugjak Wojak

[webweabings]

EVERYTHING ENDS, poem by Max

The Course of Empire series by Thomas Cole (1833 - 1836): The Savage State; The Arcadian; The Consummation of Empire; Destruction; Desolation.

[shkatzchen]

There is the moral of all human tales; 'Tis but the same rehearsal of the past. First freedom and then Glory – when that fails, Wealth, vice, corruption – barbarism at last. And History, with all her volumes vast, Hath but one page... -Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Thomas Cole used this passage to advertise his series of five paintings, "The Course of Empire," completed between 1833 and 1836. All five paintings are done from approximately the same perspective.

The first painting, The Savage State, or The Commencement of Empire, portrays the ideal of nature, a healthy world unchanged by humanity. It is daybreak and the seeds of civilization are planted. This progresses to The Arcadian, or The Pastoral State, shows summer, where humanity has progressed in the arts and sciences and wilderness has begun to be tamed. Although humanity remains at peace with the land, subtle signs are shown of the dark nature of man and emerging imperial ambition.

The third painting, The Consummation of Empire jumps to the height of empire, decadence dripping from every stroke. There is royalty, diversity, triumphant generals and grandiose buildings. Yet hidden within are the seeds of its downfall. This comes in Destruction, the fourth, where the Empire is under attack. The city is sieged and sacked, enemies have come from without and discord has come from within. The women are brutalized and the buildings destroyed.

The series ends in Desolation. The ruins of the city are being swallowed by the wilderness, illuminated by the last dregs of daylight as the moon rises. Humanity is nowhere to be found, destroyed at its own hand. The empire is extinct.

The cycle reflects Cole's pessimism and may be a condemnation of Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party. Others, such as SCOTUS Justice Levi Woodbury, insisted America would not fall to destruction, but would continue ever upward.

The Course of Empire is Base Game Compatible and comes in six swatches per each painting for thirty swatches total.

The mesh comes from @thejim07 and is used with permission.

Download from Simfileshare here.

Made with S4S.

[shibara]

Last of the current paint-over shenanigans series~ Original piece is The Course of Empire Destruction by Cole Thomas (under the cut)

This though, it's for another fandom! Finished not too long ago listening to TMA and I thought it was high time I did something about it (and this painting was SCREAMING season 5). Thanks to @aktrashpanda for the artist rec! I was not familiar with his work but holy crap, it is absolutely fantastic!

[daily-art-academy]

The Course of Empire Destruction

Thomas Cole, 1836

Oil on canvas, 100,3 × 161,2 cm, New-York Historical Society, New York.

[mercuriicultores]

1836, Thomas Cole, The course of Empire I. The arcadian or pastoral state

1836, Thomas Cole, The course of Empire II. The Consummation

1836, Thomas Cole, The course of Empire III. Destruction

1836, Thomas Cole, The course of Empire IV. The Savage State

1836, Thomas Cole, The course of Empire V. Desolation

[constanzarte]

Thomas Cole -The Course of Empire Destruction, 1836