The Departure
1837
Painter, American, 1801 - 1848

Thomas Cole turns the landscape into a backdrop for a medieval tale in The Departure, one of a pair of luminous paintings set at sunrise and sunset. The lord of a great castle and his company leave for a quest in the bright light of an early spring morning. They later return injured and defeated in the muted light of a late autumn afternoon.

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 71
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 100.3 × 161.6 cm (39 1/2 × 63 5/8 in.)
framed: 133.4 × 194.6 × 15.9 cm (52 1/2 × 76 5/8 × 6 1/4 in.) -
Accession
2014.79.13
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Commissioned by William P. Van Rensselaer, Esq., Albany. Purchased by 1853 by William Wilson Corcoran [1798-1888], Washington; gift 10 May 1869 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1838
Thirteenth Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1838, no. 65.
1848
Exhibition of the Paintings of the Late Thomas Cole, American Art Union, New York, 1848, no. 56.
1949
De Gustibus: An Exhibition of American Paintings Illustrating a Century of Taste and Criticism, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949, no. 3.
1959
Loan Exhibition. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art: A Benefit Exhibition in Honor of the Gallery's Centenary, Wildenstein, New York, 1959, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1971
The Romantic Vision in America, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1971, no. 9.
1972
Art and the Excited Spirit, America in the Romantic Period, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, 1972, no. 38.
1976
Corcoran [The American Genius]. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1976, unnumbered catalogue.
1987
American Paradise: The World of the Hudson River School, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1987-1988, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1993
The Century Club Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1993, unpublished checklist.
1994
Thomas Cole: Landscape into History, National Museum of American Art, Washington; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; New-York Historical Society, New York, 1994-1995, unnumbered catalogue.
2005
Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no.15.
2008
The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist.
2009
American Paintings from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 6 June-18 October 2009, unpublished checklist.
2013
American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013-28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.
Bibliography
1857
Lanman, Charles. Catalogue of W.W. Corcoran's Gallery. Washington, 1857: 6, no. 3.
1882
Macleod, William. Catalogue of the Paintings, Statuary, Casts, Bronzes, &c. of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1882: 42, no. 2.
1887
Macleod, William. Catalogue of the Paintings, Statuary, Casts, Bronzes, &c. of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1887: 43, no. 2.
1947
Corcoran Gallery of Art. Handbook of the American Paintings in the Collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1947: 27.
1959
Corcoran Gallery of Art. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1959: 48, repro.
2011
Kelly, Franklin. "Thomas Cole, The Departure, The Return." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 20, 78-81, 258, repro.
Inscriptions
lower center right: TC / 1[8]37
Wikidata ID
Q19900688