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Lads, it is time!
Thomas Cole’s "The Course of Empire" paintings are widely regarded as some of the most important paintings in the history of American art.
The writer James Fenimore Cooper called them “one of the noblest works of art ever wrought”
Thomas Cole’s "The Course of Empire" paintings are widely regarded as some of the most important paintings in the history of American art.
The writer James Fenimore Cooper called them “one of the noblest works of art ever wrought”
*The Course of Empire*. tracks a civilization’s rise and fall. We see five stages of an imaginary city, from its incipient state of savagery, to its height and grandeur as an imperial city, and finally to its post-apocalyptic remains after its destruction.
The defining narrative of Cole’s work is a reflection of what some sociologists and historians call “social cycle theory”. Proponents of social cycle theory believe that civilizations rise and fall in a, as the name suggests, cyclical fashion. 
To properly understand the depths of Cole's work, you have to analyze it through various social cycle theorists. Khaldun, Spengler, and Sorokin. By combining their theories with Cole's significant allusions to Western history, we can appreciate this stunning set of paintings. 
Thomas Cole was born in Bolton le Mors in Lancashire, England. At the time, Bolton le Mors was a mill town, and Cole was exposed from a young age to the realities of the Industrial Revolution. 
He worked in the textiles industry. He would have been exposed to the social impact of industrialization: the dehumanization of man in wretched working conditions. He would've witnessed firsthand the pollution and destruction of the natural environment caused by industrialization 
Cole’s life would change when his family emigrated to America in 1818, when Cole was just 17 years old. Shortly afterwards, Cole began to teach himself how to paint, and it was apparent that he had prodigious talent.
His primary focus at the time was the American wilderness.
His primary focus at the time was the American wilderness.
In many ways, Cole’s depiction of the vast expanses of “unspoiled” territory on the American continent played a major role in shaping the American imagination, especially with regards to the concept of Manifest Destiny, an idea that plays a subtle role in "The Course of Empire" 
It is quite likely that, after leaving the heavily industrialized England where he was born, the expanse of wilderness in his new home would be jaw-dropping 
After moving to London for a period of time, he moved to Italy. Here, he took up the “landscape oil sketch” which “infused new energy into his art”.
It was also here that Cole encountered the ruins of Ancient Rome, some of which he depicted in his paintings
It was also here that Cole encountered the ruins of Ancient Rome, some of which he depicted in his paintings
Cole was not only intellectually aware of fallen civilizations, but his physical encounter with the ruins of one, combined with his romantic environmentalism, helped shape his motivations for *The Course of Empire*. He seemed to intuitively grasp the concept of cyclical history. 
In the 1830s, America was in its "glorious youth", perhaps a few steps behind England in development.
This may have frightened Cole, whose love of the American wilderness morphed into a protective attachment, fearing (in his own words) "dollar-goaded utilitarians" spoiling it.
This may have frightened Cole, whose love of the American wilderness morphed into a protective attachment, fearing (in his own words) "dollar-goaded utilitarians" spoiling it.
But it wasn’t just industrialization that bothered Cole. While America was still in a “glorious youth”, the time period around which he painted *The Course of Empire*, 1833–36, was a period of turmoil in American politics. Andrew Jackson was president. And Cole was not a fan.
Cole had serious concerns about not only industrial growth under Jackson, but also Jackson's centralization of power in State apparatuses and himself: a trend that social cycle theorists frequently identify with how empires create their own downfall.
Cole was not a scholar of social cycle theory, but he seems to fear this centralization and industrialization, these “imperial” or “global” cities. His fear of Jacksonian populism has strong parallels in Spengler's social cycle theory (but Cole got there first by a few decades)
Cole was commissioned by Luman Reed to create the series of paintings to cover a wall of Reed’s private art gallery. In response to Reed’s commission, Cole laid out his idea for the paintings as follows:
“The philosophy of my subject is drawn from the history of the past, wherein we see how nations have risen from the savage state to that of power and glory, and then fallen, and become extinct”
First social cycle theorist we look at: Ibn Khaldun
Khaldun was born in Tunis in present-day Tunisia in 1332 AD, although his family originated from South Arabia and had migrated to Tunis through Serville.
Khaldun was born in Tunis in present-day Tunisia in 1332 AD, although his family originated from South Arabia and had migrated to Tunis through Serville.
During this time, Ibn Khaldun came to disdain the apparent moral corruption that accompanied economic and societal development in cities. He also possesses a romanticized vision of the Bedouin people, the more “primitive” desert nomads of the Middle East.
Khaldun's magnum opus, The Muqadimmah, covers a number of topics, but one of the biggest contributions Ibn Khaldun made was establishing arguably the first truly systematic social cycle theory. This theory centered around two concepts: Umran and Asabiyya.
Umran is literally translated as “cooperation” or “culture,” but it makes more sense to describe it as “the extent of society." An individual can rarely live successfully in an independent fashion. As individuals come together to form tribes and then civilizations, umran grows.
It is from this concept that Khaldun distinguished between only two types of societies: Badawa or desert life/uncivilized, and Hadara or urban/sedentary/civilized culture. Ibn Khaldun did believe that “civilized” society had a limited life span.
Ibn Khaldun introduces his second concept of Asabiyya, which can be loosely translated to something akin to “group-feeling”, “blood bond”, “solidarity”, or “social cohesion”.
In Ibn Khaldun’s theory, the societies of the desert like the Bedouins possess a very strong asabiyya, while asabiyya deteriorates and eventually disappears amongst people in sedentary life.
Just leadership and religion help asabiyya; wealth and corruption break asabiyya down.
Just leadership and religion help asabiyya; wealth and corruption break asabiyya down.
Theorist #2: Oswald Spengler
Spengler was born in Blankenburg in central Germany in 1880. After his mother’s death, he left his teaching position, settled in Munich, and began to write a book that, at the time, was tentatively titled *Conservative and Liberal*.
Spengler was born in Blankenburg in central Germany in 1880. After his mother’s death, he left his teaching position, settled in Munich, and began to write a book that, at the time, was tentatively titled *Conservative and Liberal*.
The work was intended to examine the current social, economic, and political trends in Europe, but Spengler soon came to a realization that would change his work’s scope dramatically: Europe’s current predicament could only be understood in global and “total-cultural” terms.
Published in 1918, the Decline of the West was an immediate success. The trauma inflected on the West from the war seemed like needless violence and the fatalist approach of Spengler’s work seemed to have a perverse emotional appeal, even to the “victors” of the war.
While Spengler agreed with Khaldun that there are different stages of development of a society, Spengler extended the developmental timeline; however, Spengler did take after Khaldun in that Spengler identified two overarching phases of every society: Culture and Civilization
A society begins as a Culture which then develops into a Civilization.
Spengler identified eight “High Cultures”.
Spengler identified eight “High Cultures”.
Interestingly, while the modern West exists as one of those eight, Spengler does not privilege the modern West above any of the other civilizations, a surprising attitude for a German in the early 20th century
Central to Spengler’s argument was that societies are like organisms, and go through growth and decline. In his opinion, the seed of each society’s destruction exists within it from the moment the society is born. He argued there was a fundamental element of each society’s soul
The "prime symbol" of the modern West (which Spengler refers to as “Faustian” culture) is the infinity symbol, denoting *infinite/boundless space*.
The very name Faustian comes from Goethe’s Faust, the man who made a deal with the devil for knowledge and power in exchange for his soul; Faust’s demise (and, metaphorically, Faustian society’s demise) occurs when his creative energies have been exhausted.
Theorist 3: Pitirim Sorokin
Sorokin was born on January 21, 1889, in a small village in remote, northern Russia. In 1917, he married his wife Elena, and in 1923, they left Russia, eventually arriving in the U.S. after a year spent in Prague.
Sorokin was born on January 21, 1889, in a small village in remote, northern Russia. In 1917, he married his wife Elena, and in 1923, they left Russia, eventually arriving in the U.S. after a year spent in Prague.
Sorokin would teach at Harvard for three decades, where his interests and philosophical perspective would shift significantly. He arrived at Harvard as a positivist sociologist, but over time, he transformed into a far more holistic analyst of history.
In 1937, he would publish his magnum opus, the four-volume Social and Cultural Dynamics, which “spanned 2,500 years and attempted to isolate the principles of social change as they were manifested in his studies of art, philosophy, science, law ethics, religion and psychology”.
Sorokin’s analysis of art, philosophy and religion led him to conclude, contra Spengler, that there was a distinction between sociocultural vs biological systems. “Unlike biological organisms, civilizations are not perfectly integrated, and therefore they do not 'decline' or die”
Sorokin then differentiated between two types of values systems that shape the cultures of the societies they are practices in: Sensate and Ideational. He diagnosed the early 1900s West as being a decaying sensate civilization, moving towards a difficult transition period.
Returning to Cole, we can apply the theories of these thinkers to his masterpiece series of paintings.
The first painting in the series is titled “The Savage State”.
In it, we see what appears to be a tribe of hunter gatherers living in a stormy wilderness on the edge of a lake. In the foreground, a lone hunter accompanied by a hound chase a deer.
In it, we see what appears to be a tribe of hunter gatherers living in a stormy wilderness on the edge of a lake. In the foreground, a lone hunter accompanied by a hound chase a deer.
In this scenario, umran is limited. We only see a single, small settlement on the right hand side of the painting.
Without means of rapid transportation, civilization is centered around a settlement and only ventures out a small amount to get food.
Without means of rapid transportation, civilization is centered around a settlement and only ventures out a small amount to get food.
To take the vantage point of Khaldun: Here, the umran is small, and the asabiyya is strong. But while a strong asabiyya is desirable, Cole was under no romantic delusion as to the nature of this stage of society.
The dark, ominous clouds hanging over the land hide the rest of the landscape from us; just as people in the “savage state” cannot venture far from their settlement without risking death, our eyes cannot venture far from the limited domain of these people.
The darkness of the forests only adds to this feeling of the unknown, of dread. Humans in this stage of society are still at the whim and mercy of Mother Nature and her ferocious and arbitrary power.
But humans do not remain in the “savage state” forever; as Cole depicts, society develops into next stage depicted in the painting titled, “The Arcadian or Pastoral State”.
The most prominent and immediately identifiable shift from the past painting to the current one is the sky. Cole believed that the “skies are the soul of all scenery”, and the much lighter and clearer sky here depicts a society that is far more stable.
Umran, the boundaries of civilization, seem to have expanded. There is a temple, pastures, boats on the shore on the right-hand side of the painting, and what appears to be a significantly larger settlement on the shores of the body of water to the left of the temple.
Here, man appears to live in harmony with nature. It is reasonable to assume that the wood for the boats and houses came from local trees which can be replenished, and the temple, while being the most prominent piece of architecture in the painting, is also not ostentatious.
Here perhaps is the first sign of "Faustian" culture and its prime symbol of infinite or boudnless space. Civilization's horizons, its potential limits, have shifted from the nearby forests shrouded in darkness, to beyond the mountains in the distance, now unobstructed.
Cole worked during a period of American expansion and exploration, and while this "Manifest Destiny" can be considered a peculiarly American concept, it can just as easily be understood as the instantiation of the West: of the Faustian drive to explore "infinite space"
Furthermore, this painting does introduce a number of other social critiques: most prominently, the tree trunk stump in the bottom right of the painting, already warning of the destruction of the environment that can occur at even such an early stage of society.
Another critique stems from the philosopher thinking about society, while being detached from society (he is the only one alone in the painting besides the shepherd, but the shepherd has the excuse of being at work)
The prominence of the temple in the painting implies that the society is in an Ideational, or spiritual, phase under Sorokin’s model; however, there is something foreboding about the lone philosopher in the bottom left, sitting in the shadows. As if he can somehow see the future.
Next, we reach the third painting in the series, and we encounter a massive shift, both in what is being depicted and how it is being depicted.
“The Consummation of Empire” is the largest painting in the series and depicts what can only be described as a major imperial city
“The Consummation of Empire” is the largest painting in the series and depicts what can only be described as a major imperial city
The first major shift that occurs with this painting is in the title: the shift from “state” to “Empire”. While not a formal element of the painting, I would argue this pretty accurately reflects the shift from Culture to Civilization in Spengler’s writings.
Spengler believed society roughly moved through four stages or “seasons”. The first two stages are a Culture, the latter two are a Civilization. How does a Culture become a Civilization? As the Culture’s principles break down, it “hardens” into a Civilization
In terms of Faustian society, we can find this breakdown by discovering where the prime symbol of “boundless space” and exploratory nature of the Faustian soul become exhausted. The horizons have been reached. There is nothing more that can be accomplished.
In “The Consummation of Empire”, wilderness is basically nonexistent, relegated to a few trees or apparent gardens sprinkled throughout the city.
There are even pathways up to the boulder on the top of the mountain that overlooks each painting in the series, perhaps paralleling the total pursuit of knowledge of a Faustian society. They almost seem like pathways up towards the sky or heaven, similar to a Tower of Babel.
In this manner, the Faustian soul betrays itself. The pursuit of limitless knowledge and power can never be satisfied in our finite world with our finite lives. The imperial city depicted by Cole is the beginning of the end: it is the first stage of Civilization.
The decadence depicted in the painting would disgust Ibn Khaldun, who noted that money and corruption lead to a decline in asabiyya, and it was the decline in asabiyya that heralded the end of a society and its defeat at the hands of a new frontier society with greater asabiyya.
Sorokin too would almost certainly describe this as stage of the society as having shifted from an ideational stage to a sensate stage, and particularly to a passive sensate stage, defined by hedonistic consumption.
While the architecture and people of the city are clearly designed to evoke a feeling of Classical society, certain elements may have contemporary connections.
The "Emperor" crossing the central bridge looks Roman, but Cole may have been criticizing Andrew Jackson.
The "Emperor" crossing the central bridge looks Roman, but Cole may have been criticizing Andrew Jackson.
Just as Ibn Khaldun noted that the centralization and corruption of power was the deathknell of asabiyya and therefore society, Jackson’s open defiance of the Supreme Court may have struck serious fear in Cole’s heart as to the direction America was moving in
Per Spengler: In the declining, “winter” phase of a society, political systems degenerate into competitions between powerful, charismatic individuals. Ideology is pushed aside and it becomes battles between personal armies. Cole may have seen Jackson as one of these "Caesars"
This fear of Jackson’s potential “Caesarism” and its consequences is depicted in a viscerally unsettling fourth painting titled simply, “Destruction”.
There is lots to unpack in this painting.
There is lots to unpack in this painting.
Unlike the clear sky of the previous two paintings, this sky is dark, clouded and obscured by the smoke rising from the conflagration consuming the city.
The sky in “The Savage State” presented opportunity, as it opens up over the body of water to let the sun in; on the other hand, in “Destruction”, the smoke from the city is coming up from the outer edges of the sky and cutting off the sun. There is no hope. This is the end.
While there is a staggering degree of violence, it is very difficult to make out different “sides”. Certainly we see people in different clothes, but they appear to have different connotations depending on the battle they are in.
In the center foreground: the woman in white, reflecting Classical/Greco-Roman aesthetics, attempting to commit suicide to get away from the warrior, clad in the outfit of barbarian outsiders.
Khaldun might see this as a cleanse. Sorokin and Spengler would be horrified.
Khaldun might see this as a cleanse. Sorokin and Spengler would be horrified.
There IS one potential point in favor of Ibn Khaldun’s interpretation though. If we move to the right side of the foreground and look at the two figures underneath the now-headless statue, we see a scene that looks remarkably like the famous Amazonmachy metope from the Parthenon.
Yet it appears as if the sides have switched. What appears to be the barbarian takes the place of the civilized Greek, while the putatively “civilized” imperial citizen (denoted by the red sash over his shoulder) takes the place of the savage Amazonian. Still, senseless violence.
Another figure returns: the philosopher. Moved to the bottom right of the painting and lying on what appears to be a dead body, he stares down at the ground. Maybe he knew it was inevitable. The Culture hardened into a Civilization and now the Civilization has met its demise.
And finally, we end with “Desolation”, the fifth painting in the series. A not-insignificant period of time has passed, as nature slowly reclaims the ruins of the civilization.
I cannot help but believe that the depiction of the ruins here are specifically designed to evoke the ruins of Roman architecture Cole encountered in Italy. Perhaps this was meant for Americans who tended to identify so strongly with Rome that this could be their fate as well.
Deeply concerned about the future of the environment due to industrialization and political conditions, Cole's *The Course of Empire* is a warning sign to any and all civilizations to not become caught up in, and eventually fall prey to, hubris and self-congratulatory hedonism.
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