A lecture on painting the Oxbow by Thomas Locker

View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow (51.5 x 76 in.) painted in 1836 by Thomas Cole

On July 23 local artist and legend Thomas Locker shared with us his experience painting large scale studio paintings in the spirit of the Hudson River School. Two of his most recent paintings were inspired by Thomas Cole's 1836 Oxbow. Locker visited the spot on Mount Holyoke to do sketches on site and study the scene from life. Once in the studio, he worked from memory, following Cole's belief that this approach would allow the essential characteristics of the scene to rise above the unnecessary details in the artist's mind.


Memory of the Oxbow (60 x 84 in.) painted by Thomas Locker in 2010


Remembered View from Mt. Holyoke (60 x 84 in) painted by Thomas Locker in 2010