Distant View of Niagara Falls
Thomas Cole (American, born England, 1801–1848)
1830
View the original$30
Type
Size · in
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
Thomas Cole visited Niagara Falls in May 1829, composing this romanticized, autumnal scene the following year. Portraying the grandeur of the American landscape, the artist omitted the factories, scenic overlooks, and hotels that populated the area in the early 19th century. Cole expressed concern about the environmental impact of voracious industrialism, but at the same time his painting erased the human devastation wrought by colonialism and conquest in the region, which encompassed Attiwonderonk, Haudenosaunee, and Wenrohronon lands. The two Native American figures at center, combined with the falls, identify the setting as North America, but their diminished presence in scale and number reinforces the false idea of the “vanishing Indian” and is meant to signal impending transformation rather than acknowledge their stolen sovereignty.
- Medium
- Oil on wood panel
- Original size
- 47.9 × 60.6 cm (18 7/8 × 23 7/8 in.)
Museum record · 3 owners · 6 exhibitions
Provenance
- Frank Sabin, London, by 1936.
- M. Knoedler, London, 1937.
- Mrs. Edith Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, London, by 1946; to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1946.
Exhibitions
- Milwaukee Art Institute, Nineteenth Century American Masters, Feb. 20–Mar. 28, 1948.
- Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum, Thomas Cole 1801–1848: One Hundred Years Later, Nov. 12, 1948–Jan. 2, 1949, as Niagara Falls; New York City, Whitney Museum of American Art, Jan. 8–30, 1949.
- Arts Club of Chicago, The American Landscape, Nov. 14–Dec. 29, 1973.
- Washington, DC, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Niagara: Two Centuries of Changing Attitudes, 1697–1901, Sept. 21–Nov. 24, 1985; Buffalo, NY, Knox Art Gallery, July 13–Sept. 1, 1985; Corcoran Gallery of Art, New–York Historical Society, Jan. 22–Apr. 27, 1986.
- Art Institute of Chicago, Window on the West: Chicago and the Art of the New Frontier, 1890–1940, June 28–Oct. 13, 2003.
- New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas Cole’s Journey: Atlantic Crossings, Jan. 30–May 13, 2018; London, The National Gallery, June 11–Oct. 7, 2018.
