The Present, 1838 Thomas Cole (1801-1848)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Thomas Cole also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting The Present is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

At first glance, this painting draws the viewer’s attention to the stark remains of a once-grand castle, now succumbing to the forces of nature. The tower rises from its rocky perch, partially enveloped by moss and ivy, while other segments of stone architecture stand broken, their interiors exposed to the fading light. In the lower left, a solitary figure - a goat herder - tends to his small flock, evoking a sense of quiet continuity amid the broader decay. A tree of considerable age occupies part of the same foreground, its branches casting a soft shadow on the grass below. Water now fills what might once have been the site of festivities, reflecting both the setting sun and the castle’s battered walls.

Color here is used to underscore the contrast between the realm of the living and the echoes of the past. Warm gold and gentle rose tones emanate from the late-afternoon sky, illuminating both the tower and the surrounding vegetation. This glow imparts a tranquil melancholy, rather than a bright optimism. Greens become muted browns in areas of ruin, revealing nature’s patient reclamation of human constructions. The interplay between bright sky and darker architectural remnants deepens the painting’s atmosphere, suggesting the steady tide of time eroding all human achievements.

The artist’s technique, characteristic of his commitment to a spiritually infused style of landscape painting, is evident in the subtle layering of color and crisp delineation of form. While each stone is rendered with meticulous care, there is a softer handling of foliage and cloud, suggesting both the physical solidity of human craft and the persistent yet ever-shifting force of the natural world. The brushwork, though controlled, avoids rigid linearity and invites close observation of the varied textures - from rugged walls to the delicate surfaces of leaves.

Structurally, the composition leads the eye from the figures and the tree in the lower left upward toward the centrally placed tower, and finally out across the horizon. This flow parallels the theme of transience, as one moves from the detail of daily life - the herder and his animals - to the husk of a manmade fortress. Historically, the painting aligns with the artist’s broader inquiry into the cycle of empires, serving as a coda to its joyous counterpart in “The Past.” In both works, one discerns the undercurrent of moral reflection, suggesting that all flourishing worlds may eventually pass into memory.