The Oxbow
The artist
Thomas Cole, an American painter who founded the Hudson River School of landscape art.
What you see
A wide view of a river that curves in a big loop, with wild stormy woods on one side and sunny green farms on the other.
The story
Painted in 1836, it shows the Connecticut River in Massachusetts and celebrates the beauty of the American countryside.
The style
Cole split the picture in two moods, a dark wild storm and calm bright fields, to show nature and gentle farmland side by side.
Look closer
Look very closely on the far hillside and you can spot tiny letters in the trees that spell a hidden word.
Where to see it
It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Fun fact
Cole even painted a tiny picture of himself at the bottom, sitting on the hill with his easel and umbrella.