Warner Foundation

History Theme

Catskill Mountain House

Property of Warner Foundation
“Catskill Mountain House,” c.1846
Oil on Canvas
 24 x 32 1/2 inches

The Catskill mountain House was executed in 1846, almost certainly the last of several images that Cole had painted of his historic destination. Opened in 1824, Catskill Mountain House was situated on a high palisade overlooking the Hudson River and attracted the elite of American society in the early years of the nineteen century. In Cole’s painting, the Mountain House towers over the landscape like a temple in the wilderness, with its thirteen colossal Corinthian columns rendered in particular detail. Cole paints himself at the base of the Mountain. The landscape, although partially tamed by the Mountain House, retains a strong sense of the wilderness that enamored Cole throughout his career. This painting remained until the 1950s in the family of Mr. Charles Beach, the proprietor.

  Click here to read the historical context of the painting prepared by History Teacher Greg Balan

Click here for a lesson plan focusing on Expansion and Industrial Transition in Antebellum American Society, using Catskill Mountain House for historical context.

The Falls at Kaaterskill

“The Falls at Kaaterskill,” c.1826
Oil on Canvas, 17 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches

Click on the player above to listen to Jack Warner’s description of the piece.

By 1825, Cole’s creative process involved forming what he called his “mind’s eye vision” of the sites he had visited. He would call upon his sense of how things should look as well as relying on the drawings he had made in the field. His on-site sketches were often laden with notes describing color, atmospheric effects, and specific geological formations. He orchestrated these sources into strikingly inventive and idealized conceptions.

In Falls of the Kaaterskill, he exploited the pictorial possibilities of this wild and spectacular site. Here, Cole was in his element, reveling in the sort of landscape that inspired him most: grand, impressive, jagged, and sublime.  He made quick note of the observation pavilion and guard rails at the top of the cataract, which had recently been installed to accommodate tourists flocking to the site from the nearby Mountain House.