Thomas Cole's Arcadian State

Arcadian State The Course of Empire by Thomas Cole is by far the only traditional series of paintings that I enjoy and out of the five paintings I enjoy the most is the second painting titled The Arcadian State. As a person with an affinity for History, I enjoy it because it shows that state when humanity comes into its own both technologically and socially and in turns of the paintings really begins changing shape into a what will become an empire. Thomas Cole was the founder of the Hudson River School movement in the mid-19th century, his preferred subjects and that of his movement were of landscapes. He was a staunch protector of the untainted paradise of American landscape, he saw the rise of steam engine in the United States as the …show more content…
Just a little bit off from the middle of the painting there is a structure not unlike Stone Hedge in England on top of a hill. Below it there is a river with small sailing ships going around, and on the bank there is a village filled with lots of wooden structures and even further left you can see a man using oxen to plow a field. On the other side of the painting you can see another section of the river where a larger sailing ship is being constructed on its …show more content…
The people taking breaks and doing differing tasks shows that the people have created some form of a social contract between themselves. There are separate groups for each profession there are farmers, soldiers, builders and shipwrights all working together to advance the village and there also people having fun and taking time for leisure and play. That would not happen if they had not advanced to the point when they had enough resources and a social contract, if they hadn’t everyone would have been working till they got to that