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Thomas Cole’s Stretcher
c. 1840s
Wood and chalk-like pencil, 26 × 36 in.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Gift of Farancz Painting Conservation Studio, TC.2006.4.1

This solid wood stretcher served as the support behind Cole’s painting Catskill Creek (1845). The then-owner discarded the stretcher when the painting underwent conservation in 1976 because it was no longer needed. Years later, upon learning that the artist’s home had become a museum, the conservator gifted the stretcher to the Site. We discovered that Cole had filled both sides with hand drawn sketches and notations, including a figure in profile and a circular landscape.

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