Thomas Cole was trained as an engraver of woodblocks used for printing calico. In 1823, Cole followed his family to Pittsburgh and began to make detailed and systematic studies of that city's highly picturesque scenery, developing a procedure of painstakingly detailed drawing that was to become the foundation. Cole's rapid rise to fame in the early 19th century marked a sudden shift in American taste. Then, with the emergence of Cole, landscape rather quickly supplanted figure painting as the most important expression of American artists, a position it retained throughout most of the 19th century. 3 pgs. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
