Currently not on view
View of the Catskill Mountain House,
about 1844
Thomas Cole, 1801–1848; born Lancashire, England; died Catskill, NY
x1940-85
Cole’s use of pen and black ink for the foreground, framing lines, and inscribed title of this drawing links it to a sketchbook in which he kept a record of the paintings that he had produced—in this case, an easel-sized painting titled View of the Catskill Mountain House, the Four Elements (1843–44). A favorite local subject of the artist, the Catskill Mountain House was a resort that first opened as the Hudson River Tavern in 1823. Built on a two-thousand-foot escarpment, the inn was expanded over the years, becoming famous with travelers for the comfort of its accommodations and for spectacular panoramic views of the Hudson Valley.
Information
Title
View of the Catskill Mountain House
Dates
about 1844
Maker
Medium
Recto: Pen and black ink over graphite
Verso: Graphite
Dimensions
23.9 x 39.4 cm. (9 7/16 x 15 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frank Jewett Mather Jr.
Object Number
x1940-85
Place Depicted
United States, New York, Catskills Mountains
Inscription
in black ink, lower center: View of the Catskill Mountain House
in graphite, on verso lower center: Rydal
Culture
Type
Materials
Mrs. Florence Cole Vincent (the artist's granddaughter); purchased by the donor at Cole's Catskill studio
- Louis Hawes, "A Sketchbook by Thomas Cole", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 15, no. 1 (1956): p. 2-23., fig. 11, p. 16 (illus.); fig. 13, p. 17 (illus.)
- Barbara T. Ross, American Drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton University: 130 Selected Examples (Princeton: Art Museum, Princeton University, 1976)., p. 27, no. 24 (illus.)
- Barbara T. Ross, "The Prints and Drawings Collection: The Early Years," in "An Art Museum for Princeton: The Early Years", special issue, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 55, no. 1/2 (1996): 135–155., p. 147, fig. 16
- 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. 301, checklist no. 133
