Charles Octavius Cole (July 1, 1814 – February 14, 1858) was an American painter. Born in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, he spent spent much of his life in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, where he was regarded as

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

's most eminent painter during his time in the city. Although he was known as a portrait painter, he did produce some landscape paintings. Cole's portrait of

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...

is on display in Portland's

Wadsworth-Longfellow House The Wadsworth-Longfellow House is a historic house and museum in Portland, Maine, United States. It is located at 489 Congress Street and is operated by the Maine Historical Society. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962, ...

, while his ''Imperial Knob and Gorge: White Mountains of New Hampshire''

oil-on-canvas Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or copper for several centuries. ...

landscape is in the possession of

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Early life

Cole was born in 1814 in

Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes p ...

. His father,

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

native Moses Dupré Cole (1783–1849), was a sign painter and portraitist in that town.

Career

Between 1838 and 1842, Cole worked in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, where he was coined a "Plantation Baroque painter", before moving to

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, where he remained until around 1856. His portrait of Portland minister Revd.

Asa Cummings Asa Cummings (September 29, 1790 – June 5, 1856) was an American Congregational church, Congregational minister and author. He was ordained into the ministry of the First Congregational Church in North Yarmouth, Maine, in 1821. He wrote a well- ...

is in the possession of

Portland Public Library Portland Public Library is the main library of the public library system in Portland, Maine, USA. It is located at 5 Monument Square on Congress Street in the Old Port of Portland, Maine. The library has three neighborhood branches, Bu ...

and is in the art inventories catalog at Smithsonian American Art Museums in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, while his unfinished portrait of

is on display in the

in Portland. Cole also gifted Longfellow "a painting of great merit" of waxworker

Patience Wright Patience Wright (born Lovell; 1725 – March 23, 1786) was a sculptor of wax figures, and the first recognized American-born sculptor. Wright is recorded as creating at least 55 works; only her full-length figure of Lord Chatham (William Pitt) s ...

Personal life

Cole married Mary B. Smith, with whom he had three children. Daughter Annie Darling married Dr.

Henry Carmichael Henry Carmichael (March 5, 1846 – January 28, 1924) was an American physician, professor and inventor. He was a consulting chemical engineer for 37 years and a professor of chemistry at various colleges around the United States. He also created ...

, an analytical and consulting chemist from New York City.

Death

Cole died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1858, aged 43. He was interred in Portland's Western Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Charles 1814 births 1858 deaths 19th-century American male artists 19th-century American painters American portrait painters American landscape painters Artists from Massachusetts Painters from Massachusetts People from Newburyport, Massachusetts Artists from Portland, Maine Burials at Western Cemetery (Portland, Maine)