Kaaterskill Falls

American artist Thomas Cole painted this view of Kaaterskill Falls in 1826, launching what historians call "the first genuinely American school of painting." The two-tiered waterfall plunges through autumn foliage in the Catskill Mountains, framed by rocky cliffs and ancient trees. A solitary Native American figure perches on a ledge, contemplating the wild scene.

Cole had visited the falls in 1825, but tourists had already built a viewing platform at the top. He deleted all evidence of human development, emphasizing the landscape's primitive sublimity. Daniel Wadsworth commissioned this version, which he later bequeathed to the Wadsworth Atheneum, America's oldest public art museum.