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The Course of Empire – The Arcadian or Pastoral State (1836)
The Course of Empire The Arcadian or Pastoral State
The fires of Arcadia
Australia and the Course of Empire
Revisiting Thomas Coles’ series “The Course of Empire” makes for interesting meditations in the world of 2023. Whilst the allegory of the work has been applied countless ways to the world of people, ideas and nations over subsequent centuries, The Course of Empire was chiefly an insight into the American zeitgeist at a given time. The lasting impact and contemporary relevance of Thomas Cole’s works, in that context, can be explored in many places, such as here, here and here.
But to the focus of this essay: what of Australia and its own “Course of Empire” so to speak?
Join Jackson Sheppard and Sarah Heatherly as they stitch together a version of Australia’s art, spoken-word and big ideas that acknowledge the “Influence of Empire” and hint at possible epochs to come.
