Answer:
This painting is The Oxbow by Thomas Cole. Cole was the founder/first leader of the Hudson River School. This painting represents various things that are similar to the Bridal Veil Falls painting by Albert Bierstadt. It is definitely representative of the western landscape style and focuses on nature and landscape rather than people or animals. In addition, both the paintings have similar uses of light, shading, and brush strokes that put both in the Luminism category and show that both artists had related styles and might have been producing artwork around the same time. It is said that Cole painted this at the Connecticut River Valley right after a thunderstorm. The when and where of this painting further emphasizes that stress of nature and landscape on Cole’s painting.