Sunset on the Arno

1837

Thomas Cole American, 1801-1848

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

Sunset on the Arno: 1 of Collection Gallery

Sunset on the Arno: 2 of Collection Gallery

Sunset on the Arno: 3 of Collection Gallery

Sunset on the Arno: 4 of Collection Gallery

Sunset on the Arno: 5 of Collection Gallery

Sunset on the Arno: 6 of Collection Gallery

Sunset on the Arno: 7 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

Thomas Cole completed a detailed drawing of this view in 1832, when he was living in Florence, Italy. The painting shows the buildings and distant mountains as they were when Cole saw them, but the people wear clothes from the 1500s, when Florence was one of the richest cities in the world and its rulers supported the artistic labors of world-famous writers and artists like Dante and Michelangelo.
Cole was ambivalent about big cities. On one hand, the metropolis meant wealth, some of which supported artists. On the other, he believed that the generation of great wealth inevitably rested on the exploitation and impoverishment of the many. By painting Florence as he imagined it might have been in its long-ago heyday, Cole expressed his fear that America’s cities and economy were growing too rapidly for the good of most of citizens.

Title Sunset on the Arno

Artwork Date 1837

Artist Thomas Cole

Life Dates 1801-1848

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Overall: 32 × 51 1/4 inches (81.3 × 130.2 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2020.3

Markings

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Provenance

possibly (Knoedler & Co., New York, New York, USA);
ca. 1950, acquired by Private Collection (Brooklyn, New York, USA);
ca. 1973, purchased by Elliot S. Vesell.
(Sotheby's, New York, New York, USA);
2020-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

"Detroit Institute of Arts adds works to Native American collection, new works by women artists." Artdaily. https://artdaily.cc/news/131545/Detroit-Institute-of-Arts-adds-works-to-Native-American-collection--new-works-by-women-artists#.YYQ0NWDMKUm. (Accessed on November 4, 2021).

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

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