Currently not on view
View in Somes Sound, Mt. Desert,
ca. 1844
Thomas Cole, 1801–1848; born Lancashire, England; died Catskill, NY
x1940-80
In the summer of 1844, at the height of his reputation, Cole embarked on an overland sketching expedition to the coast of Maine, arriving at Mount Desert Island, then a remote timber and fishing community accessible primarily from the sea. Traveling by horse and cart over primitive roads, Cole and his companion settled into rooms in a village on Somes Sound, the site of this drawing. His numerous sketches of identifiable motifs along the rocky coastline are often inscribed with notations on color and location for future reference. In the following decades, Mount Desert would develop into a popular resort for wealthy American industrialists attracted to the island’s rustic beauty, made famous—in large part—by Cole’s paintings.
Information
Title
View in Somes Sound, Mt. Desert
Dates
ca. 1844
Maker
Medium
Recto: Graphite heightened with white chalk
Verso: Graphite
Dimensions
25.1 x 35.8 cm. (9 7/8 x 14 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frank Jewett Mather Jr.
Object Number
x1940-80
Place Depicted
North America, United States, Maine, Somes Sound
Inscription
in graphite, upper right: View in Somes' Sound | Mt Desert
in graphite, throughout: [notations]
Culture
Type
Materials
Mrs. Florence Cole Vincent (the artist's granddaughter); Frank Jewett Mather Jr.
- Barbara T. Ross, American Drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton University: 130 Selected Examples (Princeton: Art Museum, Princeton University, 1976)., p. 132
- John Wilmerding, "Thomas Cole in Maine," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 49, no. 1 (1990): p. 2–23., p. 21, fig. 16b
- John Wilmerding et al., American Art in the Princeton University Art Museum: volume 1: drawings and watercolors, (Princeton: Princeton University Art Museum; New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 2004), p. 203, cat. no. 50; p. 205 (illus.); p. 346, checklist no. 957
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Thomas Cole, 1801-1848: One Hundred Years Later, November 12, 1948 - January 2, 1949
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Landscape in Maine, 1820-1970: A Sesquicentennial Exhibition, April 4, 1970 - August 30, 1970
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American Drawings In The Art Museum, Princeton University (October 3, 1976 - November 28, 1976)
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West to Wesselmann: American Drawings and Watercolors from the Princeton University Art Museum (October 16, 2004–July 23, 2006)
