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Collections

Thomas Cole
L'Allegro1845

On view:
Geffen Galleries, floor 2
Oil painting landscape with Roman ruins, a calm river, and small figures at dusk, cliffs and a distant temple at left under a peach and blue sky

Thomas Cole, L'Allegro, 1845, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of the Art Museum Council and Michael J. Connell Foundation, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Artist or Maker
Thomas Cole
England, Lancashire, Bolton-le-Moor, active United States, 1801-1848
Title
L'Allegro
Place Made
United States
Date Made
1845
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Canvas: 32 1/8 × 48 in. (81.6 × 121.92 cm) Frame: 45 1/2 × 61 5/8 × 4 in. (115.57 × 156.53 × 10.16 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Art Museum Council and Michael J. Connell Foundation
Accession Number
M.74.53
Classification
Paintings
Collecting Area
American Art
Curatorial Notes
Best known for his depictions of the American wilderness, Cole also traveled extensively throughout Europe, visiting Italy in 1831-32 and 1841-42. While Il Penseroso is based on his sketches of Lake Nemi, near Rome, drawn in 1832, L’Allegro is an imaginary arcadian scene. The paintings’ titles refer to a pair of poems by John Milton, although Cole did not recreate specific settings, instead translating their moods—one cheerful, the other melancholic—into the visual language of landscape.
Provenance

Charles M. Parker, New York § James V. Parker, New York (by descent; sale, American Art Association, New York, Oil Paintings ... Belonging to the Estate of the Late James V. Parker, January 4, 1918, no. 101, as Classic Landscape) § Thomas Benton, 1918 § William H. Payne, New York (sale, American Art Association, New York, The Private Collection of American Paintings Formed by the Late William H. Payne, 1919, no. 77, repro., unpaginated, as Segesta, Sicily) § (Sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, Paintings, 1925, no. 112, as The Temple of Segesta) § Cecelia Ober, New York, 1925-31 § Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Kleinberg, New York, 1931-57 § Private collection, Washington, D.C., 1957-65 § Private collection, New York, 1965-69 § With Hirschl& Adler Galleries, New York, 1969 § Douglas B. Collins, Longmeadow, Mass., 1969-72 § With Vose Galleries, Boston, 1972-74.

Commissioned 1844 by Charles Maverick Parker (1797–1872), New York, by descent to his son; James Vanderburgh Parker (1830–1917), New York (sale, New York, American Art Association, “Oil Paintings . . . Belonging to the Estate of the Late James V. Parker,” 14 January 1918, lot 101, as Classic Landscape, to); Thomas Benton (1889–1975), 1918. William H. Payne Collection, New York (sale, New York, American Art Association, “The Private Collection of American Paintings Formed by the Late William H. Payne”, 6 –7 January 1919, lot 77, ill., as Segesta, Sicily, to); [William W. Seaman (d. 1949), agent at American Art Association]. [New York, Anderson Galleries, 5 March 1925, lot 112, as The Temple of Segesta, to]; Cecelia Ober, New York, in 1931 to; Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Kleinberg, New York, by descent in 1958 to; David Kleinberg-Levin, Washington, DC, through 1965. Private collection, New York, sold to; [Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, sold 1969 to]; Douglas B. Collins (c. 1943–1979), Longmeadow, MA, sold 1972 to; [Vose Galleries, Boston, 1974 to]; LACMA.Commissioned 1844 by Charles Maverick Parker (1797–1872), New York, by descent to his son; James Vanderburgh Parker (1830–1917), New York (sale, New York, American Art Association, “Oil Paintings . . . Belonging to the Estate of the Late James V. Parker,” 14 January 1918, lot 101, as Classic Landscape, to); Thomas Benton (1889–1975), 1918. William H. Payne Collection, New York (sale, New York, American Art Association, “The Private Collection of American Paintings Formed by the Late William H. Payne”, 6 –7 January 1919, lot 77, ill., as Segesta, Sicily, to); [William W. Seaman (d. 1949), agent at American Art Association]. [New York, Anderson Galleries, 5 March 1925, lot 112, as The Temple of Segesta, to]; Cecelia Ober, New York, in 1931 to; Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Kleinberg, New York, by descent in 1958 to; David Kleinberg-Levin, Washington, DC, through 1965. Private collection, New York, sold to; [Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, sold 1969 to]; Douglas B. Collins (c. 1943–1979), Longmeadow, MA, sold 1972 to; [Vose Galleries, Boston, 1974 to]; LACMA.
Selected Bibliography
  • Accademia di Francia a Roma; Commune di Roma; Direction des Musées de France; Ministero per I Bene e le Attivita Culturali; Musei Vaticani; and Università à Roma Tre. Maestà di Roma: Da Napoleone all'Unità d'Italia. Milan: Mondadori Electa SpA, 2003.
  • Hoopes, Donelson F. American Narrative Painting. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1974.
  • Fort, Ilene Susan and Michael Quick. American Art: a Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991.
  • Price, Lorna. Masterpieces from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988.
  • LACMA: Obras Maestras 1750-1950: Pintura Estadounidense Del Museo De Arte Del Condado De Los Angeles. Mexico, D.F.: Museo Nacional de Arte, 2006.
  • Schaefer, Barbara, and Anita Hachmann, editors. Es War Einmal in Amerika: 300 Jahre US-Amerikanische Kunst. Köln: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, 2018.

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