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Dream of Arcadia

1851
Not on view
Cole's idyllic landscape includes a temple and figures that evoke the classical past. The related oil painting was acquired by the American Art-Union after the artist's death in 1848 (now at the Denver Art Museum). The institution boasted nearly nineteen thousand subscribers at its height in 1849-50. For an annual fee of five dollars, each member received a large, finely engraved, print and was entered in a lottery to win original artworks which were exhibited at the Art-Union's Free Gallery–as was the "Dream of Arcadia." Aimed at educating the public about contemporary American art, the group's distribution network reached members in every state. This contributed to the creation of a national market for landscapes and genre paintings. The system flourished for a limited period, however, with no lottery taking place in 1851, the year that the Art-Union issued this work as part of a set of small engravings titled "Gallery of American Art, No. I."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Dream of Arcadia
  • Series/Portfolio: Gallery of American Art, No. I
  • Engraver: James Smillie (American, Edinburgh 1807–1885 Poughkeepsie, New York)
  • Artist: After Thomas Cole (American, Lancashire 1801–1848 Catskill, New York)
  • Publisher: American Art-Union, New York (1838–51)
  • Printer: W. E. Smith (American, mid-19th century)
  • Date: 1851
  • Medium: Etching and engraving on steel
  • Dimensions: plate: 11 x 14 5/8 in. (28 x 37.2 cm)
    sheet: 14 7/16 x 18 1/2 in. (36.6 x 47 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1993
  • Object Number: 1993.1083(2)
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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