Description: First study of the role of architecture in the work of Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School of American painting.
Review Quotes:
"Annette Blaugrund not only captured Cole's rise to prominence in the exhibition, which is on display through October - after which it travels to the Columbus Museum of Art - but also in a new book of the same name. 'No one ever wrote about his architecture before and put it together like this, ' she says. 'It is absolutely unique.'" - Architectural Digest
"The Thomas Cole National Historic Site's inaugural art exhibition in its 'New Studio' building will be 'Thomas Cole: The Artist as Architect' - the first exhibition to focus on a little-known but highly significant aspect of Cole's contribution to American art, his architectural achievements, including the design for a significant public building: the Ohio State Capitol. Accompanying the exhibition is a new hardcover book of the same title. The 120-page publication contains 63 full-color images; an essay by Dr. Blaugrund about Cole's architectural endeavors as seen in his paintings, drawings and realized projects; and a contextual essay on the legacy of Thomas Cole by Franklin Kelly, deputy director and chief curator at the National Gallery of Art." - Antiques and the Arts Weekly
"Annette Blaugrund examines the often forgotten architectural pursuits of the Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole on the occasion of the reconstruction of his self-designed studio at his home in Catskill, New York. She charts the tendency in Cole's work for natural landscapes to fall away in favor of increasingly imaginative architecture in paintings, such as The Architect's Dream and the Course of Empire series; this makes it abundantly clear why actual building was not a remotely surprising undertaking." - Publishers Weekly