American Art - Invented in the Catskills

That’s right. Thomas Cole, a Brit expat and soon-to-be artistic revolutionary, changed the course of human history when he sailed up the Hudson River, saw the unspoiled landscape of the Catskill Mountains and marched straight home, brush in hand, to create paintings that would become the cornerstones for the Hudson River School. Cole’s home, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, is located in the town of Catskill, and is open to visitors. You can even follow his footsteps – which are now popular hiking trails – to some of the most iconic views depicted in his paintings via the Hudson River School of Art Trail.