Thomas Cole
American, 1801-1848
Clouds
Oil on paper laid down to canvas
8 3/4 x 10 7/8 inches
Provenance:
The artist
Mrs. Florence Cole Vincent
John H. Ruckman, acquired October 24, 1932
John F. Ruckman, 1958
Charles V. Swain, 1965
By descent to the current owner

In an extensive report, a copy of which accompanies this lot, Alan Wallach writes: Mrs. [Florence Cole Vincent (1876-1961)] was Thomas Cole's granddaughter. She lived her entire life at 212 Spring Street in the town of Catskill, New York. Cole lived there with his wife and her sisters until his death in 1848. At his death, Cole left a large amount of work including completed and unfinished oil paintings, oil sketches, sketchbooks, [and] sketches in pencil and other media. These materials remained in the family and eventually came into the possession of Mrs. Vincent. During the 1930s Mrs. Vincent sold paintings and sketchbooks to collectors. She also held porch sales of Cole material. Given this history, we can say with some certainty that on 24 October 1932 Mrs. Vincent sold Clouds to John H. Ruckman of 3990 Mechanicsville Road, Doylestown, PA.

Cole sketched and painted clouds throughout his career. Between 1846 and 1847, Cole began but did not finish a large composition focused on a dramatic cloud formation. The same cloud formation is repeated several times in Italian Coast Scene with Ruined Tower, which the artist painted in 1838. It is noteworthy that the towering cloud formations in this painting resemble the shape and coloring of the formation in the painting under consideration. In both, the lower portion of the formation is gray, gray-purple, and gray-white while the upper portion tends toward pure white.... Considering the close resemblance of the cloud formations in [both compositions] it is probable that Clouds can be dated c. 1838.

[It] is conceivable that John Constable inspired Cole's Clouds. Constable studied meteorological treatises, and in the early 1820s, working directly from nature, painted a series of cloud studies. Cole spent time with Constable in London in 1830.. If we compare Constable's Cloud Study, Hampstead, trees at right 11 September 1821 with Cole's Clouds, both works look as if they were painted on the spot. In both, palpable brush strokes suggest the immediacy of the artists' perception. Both paintings include trees at the edge of the composition in order to establish a sense of scale.

Cole's hand is everywhere evident in Clouds. The artist was a keen observer of skies and weather conditions and they play a central role in almost all his landscapes, for example, in his famous Oxbow of 1836. The effects he achieved depended upon subtle handling of color. Clouds is a sketch in which the artist works rapidly, often employing brush strokes as a sort of visual shorthand. Consequently, the result seems entirely spontaneous. The touch here resembles the touch encountered in other sketches by the artist.

In my opinion, Clouds gives every indication of being an authentic work by Thomas Cole. The painting's likely provenance, the details of its execution, the choice of colors, the composition, the handling of paint all point to Cole's authorship."

We extend most sincere thanks to Dr. Wallach for his very kind assistance in authenticating this work.